The Girl Next Door
by TexanRose
Summary: This is a typical girl next door story, but with Aria and Ezra involved it might not be so typical. AU.
1. Summer 2007

**Please read and review! It's a typical girl next door story, but maybe not so typical. AU. No A. I do not own PLL.**

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Aria Montgomery could remember exactly where she was when her new neighbor moved next door. She was sitting in her living room window seat writing in her journal and staring out the window. She still had the journal. It white and bedazzled and the pen that went with it had purple feathers on its cap. The entry in her journal mentioned Spencer and school, described a fight with her brother, Mike, listed a complaint about her parents thinking her too young to have a cell phone, and included a sentence that said someone had moved next door where the Springer's used to live. It was dated July 23, 2007. It was the summer before she turned thirteen.

She doesn't remember much else about the day except that her mother had probably asked her to set the table for dinner, her father most likely had been working in his office, and her brother had almost certainly been playing basketball with Gavin across the street. It was a typical summer day at the Montgomery house. Neither of her parents worked during the summer. Ella taught art history and appreciation at the high school, and Byron was an architecture professor at Hollis College.

But Aria does remember what happened the day after that, July 24, 2007. Her mother had taken a plate of cookies to their new neighbor and introduced herself. Aria's journal page was still smeared with chocolate from the chocolate-chip cookie she had swiped from the cookie plate.

"He's young," said Ella at dinner that night. "And lonely."

"How long does he plan on staying?" asked Byron. "After what happened to Elliot and Anne, I can't imagine that he wants to hang around."

"He says that he got a job at the high school, and that he wants to stay in the house for now," responded Ella.

"They left it to him, then?" asked Byron between mouthfuls of lasagna.

"I think he's the only family they had left," she answered. "Maybe we should invite him over for dinner sometime. I doubt he can even cook. A home-cooked meal might do him good."

"Can you make Grandma's ravioli?" chimed in Aria, her only contribution to the conversation.

"Maybe," responded Ella absently. "Mike, honey, eat your vegetables," she scolded her ten-year-old son.

"What's his name?" asked Byron.

"Ezra," said Ella as she took a sip of her iced tea. "Ezra Fitz."

It was the next day, July 25 when Aria met her new neighbor. She had a pink headband in her hair and pink tennis shoes on her feet. She rang the doorbell. He answered it. She saw that he had dark brown hair and and was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He looked tired. Aria remembered her mother said he seemed lonely, but she had never said that he was sad.

"Yes?" he asked looking down at her.

"I'm Aria from next door. My mom brought you cookies yesterday."

He nodded. "I remember Mrs. Montgomery."

"Can I read in the tree house? Mr. and Mrs. Springer used to let me do it all the time." She stopped when she saw him wince at his grandparent's names. "Was I not supposed to mention them?" she asked in a small voice. She looked down at her feet.

"It's okay," he answered. "It's good to say their names." He looked down at the book she carried. "What book did you want to read?"

She looked up at him. "_To Kill a Mockingbird_."

"That's one of my favorite books," he said. She craned her neck so that she could look him in the eye. She noticed his eyes were blue and friendly. "How old are you?" he asked.

"I'll be thirteen in six weeks," she responded proudly.

"Are you sure you would rather read than play with your friends?"He asked her gently.

"Spencer and her family are at their lake house. Emily and her mom are visiting her dad on his base in Texas, and Hanna is with her parents visiting her grandma." This time she winced as she mentioned the word grandma.

"It's okay," he soothed her. He thought about it for a moment. "Go ahead." He leaned his head inside and towards the backdoor. "I'm guessing you already know the way."

"Thanks, Mr. Fitz," said Aria, smiling as she entered the house. She noticed it looked the same as if Mrs. Springer was cooking in the kitchen and Mr. Springer was watching TV in the living room. She half-expected to see them.

"It's Ezra," he called out after her. "I'm only twenty-two not forty-two."

She looked back at him as she reached the back door. "Thank you, Ezra," she flashed him a smile as she opened and closed the sliding door behind her. She got through half the book that afternoon, enjoying the solitude of the tree house. She never saw Ezra looking at her through the kitchen window, staring at her as she stared at the black and white pages of her book.

It was July 30, when she saw him again. This time he rang her doorbell, and she opened the front door.

"Hello, Aria," he smiled at her.

"Hi, Ezra," she smiled back. She noticed that he was wearing a button down shirt that matched his eyes and he smelled good like fresh paper and dried ink. She closed the door behind him and led him into the living room.

"This for you," he said, handing her a book. "For when you finish _To Kill a Mockingbird_. It's by Steinbeck. I think you'll like it."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide. "No one's given me a book before." She read that title. "_Of Mice and Men_. What's it about?"

He chuckled. "You'll have to read it and find out."

She sighed in frustration and noticed that her mother had come out of the kitchen and was ready to warmly greet her guest.

It was later at dinner when Ella mentioned Aria's name to her guest. "Aria requested ravioli. It's my grandmother's recipe, and her favorite dish."

"Is your grandmother Italian?" he asked politely.

"Yes," responded Ella. "She and my grandfather immigrated from a small village in Tuscany. One day I would like to go back there and see the house that she grew up in."

"I bet you and Aria get your beautiful hair from her," said Ezra. It was only after the words came out of his mouth that he realized they might be inappropriate. His face reddened.

"Actually, it is," answered Ella, kindly. "My mother's hair is the same shade of brown too."

"So what subject are you teaching, Ezra?" interjected Byron. "Ella told me that you got a teaching job down at the school."

"English. I'm teaching eleventh grade American literature and twelfth grade British fiction."

"Aria's getting ready to head into seventh grade. Maybe you'll have her in class in a few years."

"Maybe," said Ezra. "I'm not sure how long I plan to be in Rosewood."

"Any other plans?" asked Byron.

"Nothing specific," answered Ezra. "But I don't know if it's a good idea to stay here too long. That house has too many memories." The table suddenly seemed thick with awkward tension.

"We're so sorry about your grandparents," said Ella. "After that horrible car accident." She shook her head. "It wasn't right."

The table was silent as person at the table concentrated on eating their dinner, or in Mike's case, concentrated on eating anything that wasn't green.

"I remember you used to come over in the summer," offered Byron tentatively. "When Aria was younger. They built the tree house for you, didn't they?"

"I used to visit sometimes," responded Ezra. "Before college. I wish I had visited more. But," he paused, hesitant to bring up the painful topic, "they were my mom's parents, and she died of cancer when I was little. I didn't know her family really well, and my dad and I lived in California. It was a long ways away," he finished.

"What's your favorite book?" asked Aria between bites of ravioli. The adults looked at her as she stared at them innocently.

"I don't have one," he responded.

"Why not? You're an English teacher aren't you?"

He sighed. "There are so many beautiful things written, and so many things I haven't read, I don't think I can pick just one thing."

"Oh," said Aria her voice small. "I'd never thought of it that way." The rest of the meal was finished in polite conversation and silence. Before he left that night, Ezra told Byron and Ella that Aria was welcome to read in the tree house anytime she wanted, as long as it was alright with them.

Aria spent the rest of her summer sneaking over to Ezra's and finding a quiet place to read and hanging out with her friends. One day her parents even took her and Mike to Philadelphia as a treat. But it wasn't until August 18 that she really talked to him again. That night she wrote in her journal that Ezra seemed happy, happier than she had ever seen him.

When he let her in the house so she could go out the back door, she asked him, "Are you ready for school to start?" She looked at where he was sitting in the living room, eyes on a book.

He looked up at her. "Honestly?" She nodded. He sighed. "I'm terrified."

"Really?" she was bewildered, sitting next to him on the sofa. "Why? You're the teacher. You don't have to worry about Mona Vanderwaal following you around or Jenna Marshall hitting you with a volleyball during gym. You don't even have to worry about gym."

"But what if I do everything wrong?" he asked her. "What if nobody listens to me? This is my first real job. What if I mess it up?"

"I didn't know teachers thought that way." She looked at him hard.

"You're mom never says any of this?" he asked. "That makes me feel a whole lot better."

"I mean, she has said things sort of like that," amended Aria. "But she's my mom."

"Moms are people too," responded Ezra, "and so are teachers."

"You'll be fine," said Aria confidently. She looked up thoughtfully. "But watch out for Melissa Hastings. She's Spencer's sister. She likes to ask questions nobody can answer. And Jason DiLaurentis, he's my friend Alison's brother, he's a party boy. Don't believe him when he says he forgot his homework at home. And Ian Thomas, he's a jock. They're all in eleventh grade."

"Anybody else I should know about?" he asked. He was interested in seeing what she would say.

She thought hard for a moment. "Garrett Reynolds. He's broody and secretive. You never know what he's thinking."

"Thanks Aria," he said. "That makes me feel better."

"Really?" Her eyebrow flew up to her forehead and arched itself.

"Now at least I know what I'm expecting."

She impulsively hugged him, her childish body clinging to his. "Have a good first day of school on Monday," she said, getting up from the sofa.

"You have good first day too," he called back to her. When she looked behind her, he was smiling. It was the first genuine smile she had ever seen him give. It made him looked nice. He looked happy. She smiled back at him.

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**In this AU I picture Ezra as 9 years older than Aria. It makes sense later, and if you think about it 9 years isn't such a big age difference. My grandfather was thriteen years older than my grandmother when they got married. Any my mother is six years older than my father. **


	2. Fall 2007

**A/N For those of who thought that Aria and Ezra were getting together when she was 13. That's not the point of this story. They're going to fall for each other very slowly, and he's not going to start seeing her that way until she's about 16 or 17. Just wanted to clear that up. Enjoy! Please Review!**

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It was September 14, 2007, said Aria's journal, and all that was written in that day was "Tomorrow is my birthday!" Aria was excited and she had been dropping hints about what she had wanted for her birthday since February of that year—a cell phone.

"Please," she begged her father while he was working in his study.

"Can I?" she asked her mother while she was watching TV.

That had had responded with words like "maybe" and "we'll see." Her father had even asked her. "Are you sure you're not too young?"

She was frustrated and impatient. She was turning thirteen not three. Her friends had things like cell phones and iPods. Why couldn't she? She went to bed that night, anticipation building, but eventually exhaustion won and she succumbed to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, September 15, she hurried to get dressed. However, she was careful in her appearance. She wore a green top with jeans embroidered with flowers. She ran a brush through her hair, put on her favorite pair of sandals, and dabbed on some lip gloss. Then she rushed downstairs.

Her father was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee and the newspaper in his hand. Her mother was busy making chocolate chip pancakes while Mike rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and happily sipped his chocolate milk.

"Good morning, Aria," greeted Ella, smiling. "I made your favorite for breakfast."

She smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," began Byron, setting aside his newspaper. "Ready for your big day?" He looked at Mike. "Mike?"

"Happy Birthday, Aria," he said absently taking a bite out of his pancake.

She looked at her father expectantly. "The presents are where they always are, Aria," answered her mother. "On the window seat in the living room."

She found three bags waiting for. All of them were sparkly and featured white tissue paper. She brought them back to the table where she tore into them. The first bag featured a pair of shoes her mother knew she had wanted. The second gift was a necklace made out of clear crystals and matching earrings. As she began to open the third bag, it started to make sounds. "No way," she cried. The bottom of the bag revealed a box from the electronics store, a shiny black flip phone inside. She looked up at her parents.

"Really?"

"Yes," said her father smiling at her. "You're getting involved in school and going out with your friends so we thought it was about time."

"How come I can't have one?" Mike whined.

"Because Aria's thirteen," answered Ella, "and you're not."

Byron got up from his place at the table and kissed his daughter on the top of her head before heading to work.

"Look at my little girl," he mumbled to himself, "growing up."

Aria didn't remember much about the rest of the day except that her friends managed to bring her a cake for lunch and they sang happy birthday to her in choir. What she did remember about September 15, 2007 besides the shiny black cell phone was when she went over to Ezra's.

She rang the doorbell, and waited expectantly.

"Aria," said Ezra as he opened the door. "Happy Birthday." He leaned against the doorjamb smiling when he saw her happy face.

"You remembered," she squealed.

"Do you want your present before or after you go to the tree house?"

Her smile faded and her forehead knitted together in confusion. "You got me a present?"

Ezra sighed and led her into the house. "Actually, Grandma left you a present. I just wanted to make sure you got it."

"Really?" said Aria, she was even more confused now.

He reached for a small box on the coffee table and handed it to her. "I think she would have wanted you to have it."

Aria opened the box tentatively, and her eyes widened when she what was inside. "Mrs. Springer wore this almost every day," she whispered.

"She loved angels," responded Ezra. "She told me once she believed that they watched out for her. Grandpa gave this to her this on their thirtieth anniversary."

He grabbed the necklace from the box and put it on Aria. A diamond angel rested just above the top of her peasant blouse. "Are you sure?" she asked. "She was your grandma and she meant a lot to you."

"I know she meant a lot to you too," said Ezra. "Your mom told me that you used to come over here a lot. You spent time with them when I wasn't here." A look of regret briefly crossed his face. He swallowed. "Yes, I'm sure."

Aria fingered the angel. "This is my favorite birthday present," she announced solemnly.

He looked at her. "What else did you get?"

"My parents got me a cell phone," she exclaimed excitedly. "Look." She took the phone from where it was resting in her back pocket and thrust it in his face.

"Let me see," said Ezra examining it. He flipped it open and pressed a few buttons. "Now I think it's ready."

"What did you?" asked Aria worriedly.

"I put my phone number in it," replied Ezra.

"Really?" she looked up at him.

"Call me if you ever need anything. A ride. A trip to the bookstore. If you can't get a hold of your parents. Whatever."

"Thanks Ezra." She gave him a quick hug.

"The tree house is waiting for you," he said.

"Actually, I came to invite you to dinner. Mom's making ravioli again. She said you were looking skinny." She clasped a hand over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say that."

Ezra laughed. "I have been eating less than usual lately. Lots of take out. I can't cook so I've been trying to make microwave dinners, too." He wrinkled his nose. "It hasn't worked out so well."

"Well, dinner's at six," she offered.

He smiled softly. "I'll see you there."

That night for her September 15 entry Aria wrote down what she had gotten for her birthday and who had given it to her. Then she glued a picture of herself into the pages, wearing a green top and smiling.

On September 24 Ezra was at dinner again. He was back again on October 10. Soon, his presence became a regular feature at the Montgomery household. An open invitation was extended for dinner every Wednesday night, and he eagerly accepted. Ella was a good cook and his home was lonely. That's why it surprised Aria that she saw him on October 12. It was a Friday. She was in her backyard lying on the grass looking at the stars. It was one of last warm nights of the year, and she wanted take advantage of it.

"What do you think is up there?" asked a voice.

Aria looked over to the fence and saw Ezra on his side of it. She looked back up at the sky. "I don't know. Something beautiful," she answered.

"There's a legend," he started.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"It's a Greek myth. It's about Andromeda. She was a princess, and to save the city she was chained to a cliff by the sea, so that she could be sacrificed to the cracken, a terrible monster. But Percy killed the cracken and saved her and her people. It is said that the gods honored them by making them a constellation when they died. They're somewhere up in the stars, frozen in time."

"How do you know so much?" asked Aria. She saw him shrug in the moonlight.

"I went to college."

"What do you think is up there?" she asked him.

"I hope something wonderful," he answered.

"Me too," she responded.

That night she wrote in her journal "Note to self: look up the legend of Andromeda."

By November 20, the most beautiful leaves were gone. Aria was tired of school and ready for Thanksgiving vacation. She was also frustrated at the thought of not being able to sneak over to Ezra's to read uninterrupted in the tree house because of the cold.

She was glad when he rang the doorbell two days later on November 22. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

"Hi, Ella," she heard his voice downstairs. "I'm heading to my dad's for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I was wondering if you could keep an eye on my place until I get back on Sunday."

Aria heard her mother reply and wish him a Happy Thanksgiving.

"Can you give this to Aria?" he asked. "I think she'll enjoy reading it."

A few minutes later Aria heard the front door close. Her mother came into her room and knocked softly on her door. "Ezra came by and asked me to give this to you." She handed the book to her daughter. It was another Steinbeck book. _The Grapes of Wrath._

"That was nice of him," said Aria, flipping through the pages of the book.

"Yes, it was," responded Ella. "I'm glad he's going to visit his dad. I think he misses his family." She turned around and left the room, leaving her daughter with the new book.

Aria sighed and opened it to the first page. She began to read, soon lost in her thoughts, her mind absorbed with the words on the page. She entered a world very far away from birthdays and Thanksgivings and mindless star-gazing. She sighed and thought about the misfortunes of some and the blessings of others.


	3. Spring-Summer 2008

**Please Review. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, suggestions. I do not own PLL.**

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Aria knew exactly where she was on March 29, 2008. She was in her room, and she was looking out the window. It was the week after Spring Break. Ezra had gone one some biking trip on the Appalachian trail over break, and her parents had watched his house during his absence. In her new yellow journal covered in bright red flowers, her entry read "Ezra has new furniture."

In the almost nine months since Ezra had moved in next door, he had done very little to change the house he had inherited. He kept it as his grandparents had kept it. He hadn't changed a thing, not really. But on March 29, a truck backed into his driveway and movers took out a brown leather couch and shoved it through the doorway of his house. Maybe he was getting rid of the pink-flower couch Mrs. Springer had left him.

Later he would say that "it was time to move on," and "I'm twenty-two not a senior citizen. I loved Grandma but I hate her taste." She understood that moving furniture was a sign that he was moving on. He would always grieve for his grandparents, but maybe he was getting over regret.

At Wednesday dinner on April 9, Ella broached the subject of his social life.

"Are you okay, Ezra?" she asked him. "It's just that," Ella faltered and looked at her husband.

Byron sighed. "It's just that we notice you don't go out much. Have you met people since you've moved to Rosewood?"

"I've met you guys," responded Ezra despondently. He looked up from his mashed potatoes and looked at Byron and Ella seriously. "I've met Hardy. He works at the accounting firm over on Main Street. We go out to bars occasionally."

"I'm not your mother," started Ella, "But I feel like I should step in in her absence." She looked up at him. "Of course, if you feel differently, I'll never bring it up again. I know I'm not technically old enough to be your mother, but I am a mother." She stared at her glass of water

"I wish I had known my mother," he started. "I wish that she hadn't left when I was so young. I wish my dad talked about her more." He paused. "But if you would like that role then I can't think of a better person to give it to." When he looked at Ella, Aria noticed that his eyes were moist.

"Welcome to the family," said Byron clapping Ezra on the back. "You couldn't have made Ella happier."

The rest of dinner was spent in laughter and story-telling. It ended only when Mike asked to watch TV and Aria mentioned the pile of homework waiting for her upstairs. Later, much later, Aria would ask him the name of his mother. "Diane," he responded with a sad smile. His eyes looked far away and clouded over. In a moment, he came back to reality. "Have I told you the myth of the goddess Diana?"

It was a week later, when Ezra came over for dinner on April 16 that the Montgomery's had another guest for dinner.

"Her name is Simone," whispered Aria as she opened the front door for him. "Mom really wants you to like her."

He took her warning into consideration and was more charming than Aria had ever seen him. He and Simone really seemed to get along. They talked about books and traveling. They found out that they both studied abroad in Prague and they both liked writing.

"I can't believe Ella didn't introduce us earlier," said Simone over a dessert of chocolate pie. Mike's favorite, Aria noted.

"I was still getting used to Rosewood," said Ezra. "She didn't want to push me. I was still getting over my grandparent's death."

"I'm so sorry about that," exclaimed Simone. "Everybody loved the Springers. We all miss them."

The conversation continued long after dinner as the adults headed to the living room. She did the dishes and headed up to her room, checking to make sure Mike was asleep before she plopped down on her bed.

On April 16 she wrote in her journal, "Simone and Ezra met. Mom hopes to hear wedding bells in the future."

On May 29, 2008, Aria headed over to Ezra's grabbing her copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ to read in the tree house.

She rang the doorbell. A few minutes later he answered. She noticed his hands were ink-stained. She silently held up her book.

"Getting started on your summer reading already?" asked Ezra.

She nodded and pushed past him towards the back door. "It's the first day of summer, are you sure you don't want to hang out with your friends?"

She shook her head. "Hanna, Spencer, Emily and I head out for summer camp next week. I just want to be alone right now."

He nodded. "I'll be in the study if you need anything." He watched as she quietly opened and closed the back door and climbed up the rope ladder. He watched her for a long time after she disappeared from sight.

On June 2, 2008, Ezra was out with Simone in Philadelphia and he asked her if anything was bothering Aria.

"Her mom asked me to talk to her," Simone admitted as they walked through the park. "I guess she thought it would be easier for Aria to talk to me about it."

"She came over to use the tree house the other day, and I noticed something was off," replied Ezra.

Simone sighed. "She was at an end of the school year party at the Marin house and some kid tried to kiss her. It was her first kiss and she was nervous and scared and apparently it didn't go well." She paused. "She's embarrassed."

"I hope things get better for her." He reached for Simone's hand. "I remember my first kiss." He shuddered. "Her name was Maggie. It did not end well either."

Simone half-smiled under the street lights. "Mine didn't go well either. His name was Ethan and I was about Aria's age."

Ezra stopped walking and turned around and pulled her close. "Good thing it only gets better," he said leaning in.

"Good thing," mumbled Simone as she met his lips with hers.

On June 8 Aria left for camp with her friends. She had packed up all her things, including a last-minute gift from Ezra. It was a copy of _Much Ado About Nothing_. "I think you need a happy ending," Ezra had said as he handed it to her. "No more star-crossed lovers."

She had thanked him and added it to her pile of things, hoping Simone hadn't told him about the end-of-the-year party. She was gone for two months.

She came back on August 3, 2008. Her journal entry for that day had simply said "Home." Her parents noticed that she came back tanner and happier. Healthier, even. Mike, now twelve, wanted to know why Aria couldn't have stayed away. Ezra noticed that she came back more at peace with the world.

She knocked on his door the next day, August 4.

"Long time no see," said Ezra letting her in. She looked around and noticed that he had gotten a loveseat to match his leather sofa.

"Yeah," she said. She turned around to face him. "I missed your birthday."

"Your dad, Mike, and I went to a Phillie's game to celebrate. It was fun," he responded.

"Did Mom make you chocolate chip pancakes and insist on singing happy birthday to you?" she asked.

"Yup," he answered.

She nodded. "Good. She does the same thing for me and Mike every year." She waited for a moment. "I made you something for your birthday." She pulled out the objet she had been hiding behind her back. "We made them at camp. It's not as nice as what you gave me for my birthday," she began as she fingered the angel necklace at her throat. "But the sentiment's there."

He grabbed the object from her hands, and held it close to his face. "You made this?" he asked.

"Mh-hm," she nodded.

"It's beautiful," he said. "Thank you."

She looked at him for a moment before answering, "What, no story about dream catchers?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, I got nothing."

She sighed. "Mom wanted me to remind you that we're having a cook out at five. She says to bring Simone if you guys don't have any plans."

He nodded. "We'll be there. Tell your parents thanks."

"Okay. See you then," said Aria heading out the door. That night before she went to bed, Aria wrote in her journal what had transpired that day. "Family," she wrote in big block letters. "I have a wonderful family." She was thinking about her parents and Mike and Ezra, Simone, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna who weren't technically family but felt like it. A week-and-a-half later on August 19, the word "School" was blocked and circled. Time to get back to reality.

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**A/N Please do not hate me for the Simone thing. It has a purpose. Trust me! **


	4. Winter 2009

**This is my last update for the night. I hope you all have enjoyed. I'll try to update more tomorrow. Please, please, review! I do not own PLL. **

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Aria couldn't remember much about December 30, 2008 except that it was the day before New Year's Eve, but her journal entry for January 30, 2009 read "Ezra and Simone broke up." She could see what was happening in his house from her bedroom window. Simone was crying and Ezra was standing in his living room with his hands in his pockets, staring at his feet. She said something to him before storming out of his house. The tires of her car screeched as she flew down the street. Aria went back to her homework, trying to figure out why x+y=xy.

Later that night, Ezra came home. Aria saw that he was struggling to make it to his front door and pull his keys out of his pocket. She recognized Hardy as he came to Ezra's aid, coxing him and gently guiding him toward his house. She had never seen Ezra drunk before. She should have been in bed asleep. But she was restless and something was keeping her up. As she looked out the window, she had a feeling Ezra was going to miss school in the morning.

On January 31, she went over to his house after school. She brought some cookies her mother had made the day before as a gift. She rang the doorbell.

He opened the door slowly, shutting his eyes against the dim rays of the sun. "Aria?" he mumbled.

"Yup," she answered cheerily. "I brought cookies."

"Thanks," he grunted. "Come in and put them in the kitchen." She did as she had been bid and noticed that the kitchen walls had been repainted a golden yellow color. When had that happened?

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said. He sprawled out on the couch, a pillow over his face.

"Can you bring me an aspirin?" he asked, his voice muffled by the pillow. They're in the bathroom cabinet."

She grabbed the bottle in the bathroom and went back into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. She placed both on the coffee table next to him and waited. After a few minutes, he grabbed a couple of aspirin and downed the glass of water.

"Feel better?" she asked, sitting on the loveseat.

"Not really," he groaned. "I haven't gotten that drunk in years."

"Want to tell me about the last time?" she asked.

"No," he ground out. He sighed. "It was about a girl."

"So was last night," she pointed out.

"Ughh," he huffed and put the pillow back over his face.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Simone and I broke up," he answered. He tried to sit up in the sofa. Failing, he laid back down.

"Obviously," replied Aria.

He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "She wanted to move in. We had been together eight months. She thought it was time."

Aria leaned forward, her elbows in her knees, her hands in her face. "Well?" she prompted.

"I told her I didn't love her."

"Ouch," responded Aria. She sat there for a few minutes before getting up. "Do you need anything else before I leave?"

"A cure for a hangover would be nice," mumbled Ezra.

Aria smirked. "I guess I'll tell Mom you're not coming to dinner tonight."

"Tell her I'll see her at school tomorrow."

"Will do," said Aria heading out the front door.

On February 12, Aria was at Ezra's house begging like an abandoned puppy. "Please?" she asked.

"Remind me why I would want to spend my Saturday night with a bunch of teenage girls," he deadpanned.

"Please, Ezra. We're fourteen. I really want to go to this concert. Mom and Dad said if you took us they would be fine with it. Please. I really don't want to go to my first concert with my parents. Please. It's in Philadelphia. Please. It's not like you have a date on Saturday night. Please. Please. Please."

He sighed. "What about Spencer's parents. And Hanna's. And Emily's? Surely they're not agreeing to this hare-brained scheme?"

"Yes they are," said Aria excitedly. "We can go if you come with us. Please. Please. Please?" The last please was a question.

Ezra mentally battled with himself. Hanging out with four-teenage girls on a Saturday night was not his idea of fun, but Aria wanted him to say yes so badly. "Fine," he said, resigned. "But I have to choose the music we listen to on the way there and the way back."

"Thank you, Ezra," she squealed. She gave him a quick hug before running out the door to tell her parents the good news.

Three days later, on February 15, Aria wrote in her blue cloth journal. "I went to my first concert. It was awesome." She taped a picture of her friends and Ezra on the blank page next to her entry.

On February 28, 2009, Ella sent Mike to Ezra's house and to tell him it was an emergency. Byron had fallen on some ice in the driveway. Could Ezra please take the kids to the hospital while she rushed Byron over there?

That night, Aria wrote in her journal "Dad is going to be alright." Her father had a mild concussion and some bleeding to his head. He was going to spend the night in the hospital under observation. Ella was going to stay with him. Aria and Mike were relegated to spending the night at Ezra's house where they would have quick access to home if they needed anything.

Ezra fed them pizza and wore Mike out with video games before putting him to bed in the extra bedroom. He was soon asleep. Aria on the other hand, was a different matter. Her mood was hard to gauge. She sat in the living room in her pajamas. Her hair cascading down her shoulders, staring at the wall.

"Are you okay?" he asked sitting next to her.

She turned to look at him. "I'm fine just restless. I know dad's going to be okay, but…" she let the word hang.

"But," he agreed.

"Let me show you something," he got up from the couch and walked towards the hallway. "Follow me," he called back to her. He knew she was following when he heard her slippers shuffling on the hardwood floor.

When he reached the last door on the right of the hallway, he stopped and opened it. Aria had never been in this room before. It was painted light blue. There was a mahogany desk leaned up against the window. A typewriter was sitting on its corner and it was filled with dozens of white papers. But the small room was filled with bookshelves which were in turn filled with books.

"Why have you never shown this to me before?"she asked in wonder, fingering the spines of both paperback and leather-bound books.

He shrugged. "It was my place to be alone, my room. It was the only thing I really changed when I first moved in here."

"Do you write a lot?" she asked pointing to the desk.

"I try," he responded. "What do you think?"

"I like it," she answered. "I like it a lot. Thanks for asking." She smiled at him. It was her first real smile since the hospital. "Any suggestions," she said gesturing towards the books.

He looked at the shelves thoughtfully before selecting one of the older books from a second shelf. "It's by James Joyce. _The Dubliners._ It's a selection of short stories about people who are stuck, paralyzed."

She looking down at the book her offered her and then back up at him. "Do you have a favorite story?"

"_The Dead_," he replied easily. "The last one."

She took the book from him. "Thanks," she said before heading up to the guest room. "Good night, Ezra."

"Good night, Aria." She slept well that night. Better than she had in weeks.

On March 4, Aria's journal entry was filled with happiness. "The girls are spending the night" it read. It was a Friday, and Aria was ready to spend with pizza and nail painting and a_ Miss Congeniality _DVD.

"What do you guys think of Sean?" asked Hanna, focusing on painting her toenails a bright red.

"He's cute," responded Aria. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because I like him," she replied. The girls squealed and then quickly quieted down before Mrs. Montgomery came in to tell them about the noise.

A few minutes later, Spencer asked "What do you think about Ian Thomas?" Her clear finger nail polish had dried a long time ago and she was busy munching on popcorn from the bowl.

"Isn't that Melissa's boyfriend?" asked Emily working on a blue toenail.

Spencer nodded. "He kissed me the other day."

"Really?" Aria looked up from her purple fingernails.

"What are you going to do about it?" asked Hanna, looking at her friend with genuine concern.

"I don't know," said Spencer dejectedly. "I just don't know." The girls spent the rest of the night whispering in hushed tones about boys and girl friends and kissing. It was late when they went to sleep, or rather, it was early in the morning. They has spent their night talking the way most teenage girls do.


	5. Summer 2009

**A/N Thank you for the wonderful reviews. They're lovely. Please keep them coming. It keeps me motivated to finish. For the readers out there who think that Aria and Ezra are getting together before she's seventeen that is not the case. They're relationship right now is friendly and builds a foundation for what happens later in the story.**

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The summer of 2009, Ezra left for California. On June 15, Aria wrote in her journal "Mr. Fitz had a heart attack." As usual, he left Ella his spare key and asked Byron to watch his house. This time, he didn't leave her a book when he left. She wasn't sure when he would be back.

She spent the summer with Hanna and Emily while Spencer traveled with her family. They slept over at each other's houses, went swimming at the community pool, and even baby-sat Mike a couple of times. With Ezra gone she didn't sneak over to read in the tree house. Often. Instead, she became concerned with her impending entrance to high school. She seemed to paint her nails a different color every day, and started rummaging through vintage stores for unique pieces of clothing. She even got her mom to let her to put pink highlights in her hair.

She bought a new journal made out of black leather. On June 28 she wrote about Hanna's awesome new shoes. On July 4 the words "family reunion at Aunt Ruth's" were circled. July 21 the only notable even was that "mom made ravioli for dinner," and on August 2 she baked a cake in honor of Spencer's birthday. On August 13 the sentence "Emily made the high school swim team" ended in an exclamation point. One August 15 the word "Ezra" and "home" were underlined.

He went over to her house that day, but she wasn't there. She was hanging out with her friends at Hanna's house. He wanted to let Byron and Ella know that he was home and to tell them that his father had passed away.

"His dad died a few days after he got to California," Ella informed Aria and Mike at dinner. "Ezra stayed to put his father's affairs in order."

"So tragic," mourned Byron.

"Does this mean that Ezra's moving to California?" asked Mike taking a bite of his sandwich.

"No, honey. He sold his father's house and put some things in storage. With that and a funeral to plan, that's why he was gone so long," responded Ella.

Byron shook his head. "He's so young not to have a family."

"We're his family," stated Aria firmly, looking up from her dinner. "We're his family, now." That said, much to the approval of her parents, she turned her attention back to her food.

The next morning, August 16, Aria went over to Ezra's. She put on a new blue blouse and black shorts, feeling particularly proud of her appearance. When she got to his front porch she rang the doorbell twice waiting for him to answer. When he did open the door, his hair was tousled and he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Aria," he stated, blinking against the brightness of the sun. "What happened to your hair?" he exclaimed, the pink highlights catching her attention.

"Do you like it?" she asked, shaking her long hair free of its ponytail.

"It's different," answered Ezra carefully. He stood in the open doorframe and she noticed that he hadn't invited her in. "Did you come here to use the tree house?" he asked.

She swallowed. Something felt off. "Actually, I came to see how you were doing. Mom told me your dad died. That's why you were so long in California."

He nodded. "Among other reasons."

Aria was about to respond when one of those reasons, wearing nothing but one of Ezra's button down shirts came up behind him. "Who's this?" she asked Ezra, pushing her dark hair out of her face.

He turned his head to look at her. "This is Aria. She's the girl from next door."

"Oh," the woman responded. "I'm going to make coffee. Do you want some?"

"Sure," he responded. "I'll be in the kitchen in a minute." She kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

Aria watched as she faded into the darkness of the house. "Who's that?" she asked him.

He sighed before answering. "That's Jackie. She was my girlfriend in college and one of the reasons I stayed in California so long." He rubbed his face before he continued. "We reconnected when I went home, and now she's teaching at Hollis." He shrugged. "It's funny how things work out. She was there when my grandparents died, and she showed up at the funeral when she heard my dad had passed."

Her looked at him, waiting a moment before responding. She tried to will the catch in her throat to go away as she responded in a voice so quiet that he almost didn't hear her. "I was there for you too." As she turned and made her way back to her house, she recognized that something was bothering her, and it had to do with that woman who was with him, but she didn't know why she felt like that. She wrote the word "lonely" in her journal that night.

On August 20, she walked into Rosewood High for her first day of classes. She had received her schedule in the mail, and her mom had told her where her classes were. Her dad had kissed her forehead and wished her a good first day of school. Mike hadn't said much at all.

She was tugging at her black top as she stood in front of her locker, looking back and forth from the slip of paper in her hand to the number engraved on the blue metal sheet. It seemed to be the right one. She turned the combination lock to the correct numbers, and it magically swung open. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Aria," exclaimed Emily, as she exited the bathroom. She gave her friend a quick hug.

"Hi, Em," said Aria, half-smiling. The familiar face was making her feel better.

"What's your first class?" asked Emily as the girls began to walk down the hallway.

Aria looked at the sheet of paper in her hand. "English I with Mrs. Welch."

"Me, too," said Emily looking at her own piece of paper. "I think Spencer and Emily have her first period too."

"That's good," said Aria, looking at the room number plates for the one that said 103. "That means if we ever have trouble in that class, Spencer will be there to save the day."

"True," responded Emily, laughing as they entered the classroom. "Here we go," she murmured.

Later that evening, Aria was sitting on the back porch swing when Ezra called to her from the other side of the fence. "Hey, there."

She looked up from her history textbook. Setting it down in the space next to her, she hopped up and walked over to him. "Hi," she answered.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"My first day?" she responded. He nodded. "Well, I think. But I was nervous. Really nervous. But Alison looked as cool as a cucumber. It was like she always belonged there."

"High school is a tough crowd," he replied. "I remember my first day at Rosewood High."

"Did you have lipstick on your teeth after you left the bathroom?" she retorted.

"No." His shoulders shook with silent laughter. "But I did manage to spill coffee on myself before first period had ended." He looked away sheepishly.

She giggled and then quickly sobered. "Where's Jackie?" she asked, looking around him to the windows that gave a view of the inside of his house.

"She has her own apartment across town."

"I thought she was living with you." It was a statement, but Aria's questioning tone made it more than that.

"No, she's not." Ezra didn't give any further explanation.

"Are you coming to dinner on Wednesday night?"

"Of course," responded Ezra with an easy smile. "What's your mom making?"

"Not sure," Aria responded. "Any requests?" she smiled back at him.

"I'm sure anything you suggest will be great," he answered. The talked a few more minutes before she went inside to finish her homework. Her journal entry for August 20 mentioned lipstick, Emily, Alison, lockers, schedules, and teachers. But on the last line of the page Aria wrote "Everything is going to be okay."

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**A/N Please don't hate me about Jackie. Like with Simone, there's a purpose. Plus, I'm trying to parallel the show as closely as I can while making it believable. I promise Jackie is still a psycho bitch who we love to hate and will be rejeted by Ezra later. **


	6. Spring 2010

**A/N Thank you for the wonderful reviews. They keep me motivated to keep updating. Unfortunately, this is the last update for the night. I'll be back tomorrow. Enjoy chapter 6!**

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The fall of 2009 passed quickly and quietly. Mike had entered seventh grade and joined the junior high basketball team. Byron had been made head of his department, and Ella showcased some of her pieces at a local art gallery. Aria started going out with Holden Strauss, and Ezra and Jackie were still together. Eventually Thanksgiving rolled around, and then Christmas and New Year's in quick succession. At fifteen, Aria thought that her life was complicated and she was somehow different from the rest of her classmates.

When, years later, she told Ezra how she had felt during that fall, he would reply, "Maybe there's some truth to it."

Perhaps there was more truth to her feelings. Aria had her first boyfriend and she was completing her first semester of high school. She was already feeling pressured about college and her future. The arguments that seemed to be increasing in regularity between her parents didn't add any peace to her life. But what happened in the fall of 2009 was nothing compared to the spring of 2010.

It was early on a Thursday morning, Thursday morning March 11, 2010 to be exact, that Ella called Ezra and asked him to take Aria to school. She was going to take a sick day. Aria walked to Ezra's driveway, where he was waiting for her in his silver Camry.

She got in the passenger's seat silently and placed her bag on the floor. Ezra noticed that she was wearing sunglasses and her hair was in a messy bun. She sipped coffee from her travel mug the whole way to school. "Is your mom okay?" he asked eventually.

"She'll be fine," replied Aria, her voice monotone.

"Did she manage to find a substitute or should I let Principal Hackett know when we get to school?"

"She got one," replied Aria, looking out the window.

At the red light, Ezra took a moment to look at her. She looked tired and stressed, and she was uncharacteristically close-mouthed. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked now. He was pushing it, and he knew it.

"I'll be fine," responded Aria. She took a sip of her coffee before adding, "Eventually." When they reached the school parking lot, Aria quickly jumped out of the car without saying a word.

He puzzled over what had happened during the day, and he even spent a portion of his lunch period looking for her in the crowded cafeteria just to check on her. He was concerned. Aria waited for Ezra at the entrance of the school after she had been dismissed for the day. She followed him to his car, ready for the ride home, when he turned to her and opened up his bag.

"It's _The Scarlet Letter_," he said. "The protagonist of the book is a woman who felt singled out by society for being adulterous." She fingered the paperback book in her hand but didn't respond.

Ezra sighed and got into his car, steeling himself for the silent drive home. He noticed that she fingered the book during the drive while she looked out the window, distracted.

When he pulled into his driveway, she immediately took off her seatbelt for a quick exit, but Ezra put a hand over hers, stopping her. She looked up at him, her eyes silently questioning.

"Do you want to tell me what's really going on?" he asked gently.

After a moment, she leaned back in her seat, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Mom and Dad had a big fight last night," she mumbled.

"I know they've been having problems lately," he answered. "But what's wrong with you?" He looked at her, willing her to respond.

She sighed. "I'm scared. I'm worried that my parents are going to split up, that I won't have my family anymore." She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears.

"Oh, Aria," he breathed out. "You know I love your parents as if they were my own, right?" She nodded in response. "Then, please trust me when I say that you're parents are going to be okay."

"You promise?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"With my whole heart," he answered. She looked up at him with her big hazel eyes before giving him an awkward hug from across the seat.

"Do you mind if I spend some time reading in the tree house?" she asked. "I don't want to go home right now."

"Sure," he responded. Secretly, he was glad that she wanted to do something so normal, so routine, even if reading in the tree house had become a less frequent pastime. That night, Aria wrote in her leopard print journal "Making it through."

However, things took a turn for the worse less than a month later on April 9, Hanna announced to her friends that her parents were getting divorced.

"I'm so sorry Hanna," exclaimed Spencer. "What happened?"

"My dad wants to marry the woman he's been cheating on my mom with. Isobel. The witch woman," she spat out.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Emily. She had been sitting next to Hanna, and now her hand was rubbing her friend's back in an attempt to comfort her.

"Eventually," responded Hanna. She looked miserable, and Aria automatically sat up in her seat when she heard the word that sounded like an echo of what she had said weeks ago.

"We'll help you through it," said Aria sympathetically.

Hanna looked at her friends. "I know you will."

Aria's journal entry for that was written in red ink. The word "divorce" was blocked in all caps and next to it was a single question mark.

Two weeks later, on April 17, she and Holden broke up. The feeling was mutual. They both understood that they were better off as friends rather than involved in a romantic relationship. But Aria's journal entry was cryptic, simply stating that "Nothing is ever going to be the same again."

May 30, 2010, the second day of summer vacation, Aria remembered exactly where she was when she heard the news. She was sitting at home watching TV when her mother came into the living room and sat next to her. Sensing that something was the matter, Aria turned the TV off and faced her.

"Alison DiLaurentis went missing," said her mother without preamble. "Ashley Marin just called me to let me know. I thought that you might know something, anything that would allow her parents to find her."

"Wow," responded Aria. She looked at her mother in shock for a minute before answering. "I don't know anything. Nothing." She shook her head. "Alison kept her friends close, but she liked to keep her secrets closer."

Ella gave her daughter a hug before saying "Let me know if you think of anything, anything at all."

Police came and questioned Aria that week, and while she wasn't exactly calm as she answered their questions, she managed to keep a straight face and repeat what she had told her mother. She didn't know what to think anymore, or feel. Her journal entries from May 30 to June 3 simply read "Alison." The name was written dozens of times as if by writing her name, Aria could find out what happened to her friend, and her childhood.


	7. Summer 2010

**The reviews are awesome! Questions, comments, suggestions? Please let me know. Aria is fifteen in this chapter and Ezra is twenty-four. I know this chapter is shorter than usual and contains very little dialogue, but it's necessary in order to connect it to what happens before and after this chapter. The point is to show how complicated Aria's life is getting. The next chapter is in Ezra POV. Enjoy! I do not own PLL.**

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On June 9, 2010, Aria looked outside her bedroom window and saw Ezra and Jackie sitting in his living room watching a black and white movie. She sighed before putting the curtain back into place and returning to her journal entry. "What kind of movies do they have in Iceland?" she wrote. She sighed before she picked up her book, _Night _by Ellie Wiesel, and settled into bed.

She had seen Ezra and Jackie together often during the course of the last year, but as her family packed up their house in boxes, and she compartmentalized her life into suitcases, her heart tightened and the back of her throat felt dry. Things were changing, and she didn't know whether they were changing for the better or the worse.

After the events of the last six months, her parents had made the decision to spend a year in Iceland for her father's sabbatical. Her mother had already taken a leave of absence at the high school and she and Mike were enrolled at an English school in Reykjavik . She knew that it was her parents last attempt at making their marriage work, and she knew they needed time away from the everyday chaos of their daily lives. Still, Aria sighed as she packed her sweaters and other winter clothing, one June 21, she dreaded the isolation that was to come.

Maybe she didn't dread it so much as she thought, she mused on June 30. With Alison gone, things had become…complicated. She had vanished without a trace, without a word, without anything, into thin air. And Aria spent her nights wondering what could have happened to her friend. She hadn't even been sixteen yet. Aria also devoted some time to wondering about Jackie, Ezra's girlfriend. Something didn't settle right in her stomach when she was around Jackie, and she couldn't tell what it what was. A part of her thought it was because Jackie had always treated her like a child even when Ezra had always treated her like an equal, like someone he could talk to.

Maybe. She couldn't figure it out, but maybe she wasn't supposed to. She was upset about Alison and Holden and she was even a little angry at Mr. and Mrs. Marin. Why couldn't they have made it work for Hanna's sake? She felt a little anger stirring inside of her at her father. She shoved away and locked it deep inside of her. Her journal entry for July 1 read "Where to now?" She didn't know the answer. She suspected no one knew the answer.

On July 4, Ezra ditched Jackie's family's Fourth of July celebration in favor of the Montgomery's. They had dinner and then popped firecrackers in the backyard. It was just the five of them, and although the group tried to be as festive as possible, sadness clung to the air like a rotten stench. Secretly, Aria was glad that Ezra was with them instead of with the Molina family. In less than seventy-two hours they would be gone and she might return to a different kind of life and a different kind of family. She wanted to keep things the way they were as long as she could.

Later, Ezra would tell her, "You couldn't imagine what I felt. I thought the only family I had left was leaving me."

She would respond, "You wouldn't of understood what was going on inside me. I thought my heart was ready to burst at the seams."

Two days later, on July 6, Ezra drove the Montgomery family and all their bags and suitcases to the Philadelphia airport, the first stop on their long trip to Iceland. It was a silent drive, and before the Montgomery's went through security, he gave each family member a hug and told them good-bye. Then, they were gone.

Ezra drove home, taking his time, trying not to think about life without Wednesday dinners and a home full of his grandparent's memories. He was slightly depressed, and he knew it. He mentally kicked himself for mourning over a family that was never really his to begin with. Jackie called him as he pulled onto the interstate.

"Hello," he answered.

"Hi, Z," she responded. "Are they gone?"

Ezra looked down at the clock on his car before responding. "Their plane left about fifteen minutes ago."

"Good," she said. "Can you come over tonight? I'll cook."

He thought about it for a moment before answering, "I think I want to stay home tonight. I'm not feeling that great."

"Do you want me to bring you soup? I can take of you like that time you got the flu in college."

"No thanks," he said. "I'm not that kind of sick. I'll see you tomorrow." He said a hasty good-bye before hanging up his phone. He ordered Chinese take-out that night and sat in his study. In his brown leather journal, the entry for July 6 read "Alone."

A state away, while Ezra was pulling into his driveway, Aria was sitting in New York's JFK airport, at gate B-26, waiting for the plane to take them to Reykjavik. Her mother was sketching in her pad, her father was working on his laptop, and Mike was playing on his PSP when she decided that she's rather spend her time reading instead of brooding over the changes that were happening in her life. She rummaged through her carry-on bag and was surprised to find a book she hadn't packed. She looked at the title _Mrs. Dalloway_ by Virginia Woolf. She knew without hesitation that Ezra must have slipped the book into her bag when she wasn't looking. She started to read, stopping only when the flight attendant called for boarding and she had to show her passport.

She finished the book during the thirteen hour flight to the Reykjavik airport. It was about the moments that made up a day and the days that made up the years in the life of one woman. She took a moment to think about the moment she was experiencing as the plane touched down on the European runway. Then, she wondered what moment Ezra was experiencing in his life at that moment. Her journal entry for July 7 read "far away" and "unknown."

The moment that Aria had been thinking about her own life, Ezra was thinking about his future and where he wanted to be. He wanted a wife, and he wanted children. He wanted to let go of the past, but somehow hold on to those wonderful memories that the past was composed of without regrets. He missed his mother, his grandparents, his dad. He missed the Montgomerys and he half-expected Aria to ring his doorbell at any moment and ask to read in the tree house or Ella to call and invite him to dinner. Strangely enough, he didn't miss Jackie, and that's when he knew that he should take his future into his own hands. That night he went out with Hardy and got drunk over a girl. But this time there was no Aria to take care of him as he suffered through his hangover.

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**A/N For all you literature buffs out there, are you getting the book references? **


	8. July 2010-August 2011

**A/N I had a little bit of trouble writing this chapter, but I hope you guys like it. Because it's Ezra POV there aren't any specific dates and time goes by much faster. ****I think the next chapter is the one you've really been waiting for. Enjoy! Please review!**

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The 2010-2011 school year, the school year where Aria would have been a sophomore and Mike in eighth grade, Ezra taught his English classes contentedly if not happily. He had broken up with Jackie in July, and since then he had decided to redo his life, starting with his house. He finished his redecorating and his remodel of the home his grandparents left him.

The living room was painted an emerald green, the guest bathroom got a new sink, the hardwood stairs on the second floor had been refinished, and he bought new furniture for the guest room. He read up on plants, and went into a local nursery knowing specifically what he wanted to purchase. He invested in black quartz countertops for the kitchen and turned the sliding back door into a French door. He got rid of anything that reminded him of his grandparents' deaths, and he donated his grandmother's frilly rose pillows and quilts to Goodwill. He only kept a few things that reminded him of the Springers. Their wedding album was kept on the coffee table where it had always sat. The painting that they had bought in Paris still hung in the dining room. The angel figurine that his grandmother loved still sat on the bedside table. The attic was still filled with mementos from their lives, things he didn't have the heart to rummage through at the moment.

Ezra also took care of the Montgomery house. From July to September, he made sure the grass was mowed. From September to November, he raked the leaves, and from November to February, he made sure that there was always a path through the snow from the street to the front door. That year he also installed a gate between his backyard and the Montgomery's. It was intended for Aria's use, so that she could go back and forth to the tree house at will, if she still decided she wanted to use the tree house when she came back from Iceland.

Although he wasn't in any serious relationship, he did go out. Hardy and a few other people from work set him up on blind dates. Although the girls he went out with xseemed nice enough, he couldn't see any of them in his future. He and Hardy spent Friday nights at their favorite bar. Ezra even read some his poems there a few times. But he was careful not to get drunk again, and he was careful to avoid Jackie. He knew that she still worked at Hollis and had been promoted from TA sometime shortly after they had broken up. He hoped that she got the future she desired, but he also knew that she had a tendency to be vengeful and vindictive when she wanted.

As busy as he was redecorating his house to suit his tastes, Ezra spent his vacations traveling. He spent Thanksgiving up in New York City going to museums and reading in Central Park. He even spent a day at Ellis and Liberty Islands before going back to Pennsylvania. For Christmas vacation, he backpacked through Ireland enjoying the sight of the emerald green grass and grimacing as the rain that seemed to fall at the most inopportune moments. He spent New Year's at a bar in Dublin's Temple Bar district, drinking Guinness and smiling as the Dubliners invited him to join in their celebrations. He spent Spring Break at an isolated cabin on Lake Erie where he could be alone with his writing and his thoughts. Soon summer rolled around again, and as the school bell rang on the last day s of school in May, he felt his heart tighten as he realized that he had missed Aria's sixteenth birthday and Mike's fourteenth. With July fast approaching, he realized that his own twenty-sixth birthday was not far away.

Ezra saw Emily, Spencer, and Hanna in the hallways of Rosewood High. He noticed that Hanna had lost a tremendous amount of weight and wondered how hard of a toll her parent's divorce had taken on her. Spencer often ran by him on her way to class, decathlon meetings, and field hockey practice. He saw in the school newspaper that Emily was one of the school's best swimmers, with one of the best times in the state. Although he knew Spencer, Hanna, and Emily through Aria, he didn't have the same relationship with them that he had with her. They nodded to each other in the hallways and waved at each other across town. Emily even came into his classroom a few times during his off period to ask for help with her English homework. He knew that she was only one of several students who was having trouble in Mrs. Welch's English II class. But that was where his interaction with Aria's friends began and ended. He knew that in the world he lived in, he was the teacher and they were the students.

He emailed Byron weekly updates about what was going on in Rosewood, and Byron responded with the going-ons in Reykjavik just as frequently. Christmas cards were exchanged as were birthday cards and anniversary ones. Ezra knew that Montgomerys were supposed to be back in mid-July, and he even mowed the Montgomery's lawn and swept their porch in preparation for their homecoming, but Byron sent him an email toward s the middle of that month saying that he and Ella had decided to keep the family in Iceland for an extra week before traveling through Europe until school started up again in August. He stated that Ella especially wanted to visit her grandmother's house in Tuscany. Ezra sighed and resigned himself to waiting for their homecoming for another month.

Eventually the Montgomerys did return home, and brought a plethora of boxes and suitcases with them. He waited a day for them to settle in before he went over. Ella and Byron were delighted to see him, and he was glad that their marriage seemed to be stronger than ever. Unfortunately, he had just missed Mike and Aria. Mike had fallen in love with lacrosse during their time abroad, and Aria had taken him to school for try-outs. He was a little taken aback at the thought of Mike in high school and Aria driving. Perhaps they had been gone longer than he thought, or maybe much more than he realized had changed during their time away. After an hour of catching up, Ezra was invited over to dinner the following week, after everything had been unpacked and everyone was settled into work and school. He accepted before walking back over to his house to get ready for the first day of school the following morning.

He walked into his empty classroom bright and early the next day. He was wearing a new vest and tie and seemed particularly chipper. For some reason, he was excited for the school year to begin, and he felt some sense of anticipation building up in the bottom of his stomach. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the teacher's lounge and took it back to his classroom. The hallways were swarming with students, and he smiled at the nervousness of the freshmen. When he got back to his room he saw that there several students sitting at their desks.

He recognized Mona Vanderwaal from different school activities and of course he knew Hanna Marin. Spencer Hastings was sitting at her typical spot on the corner of the first row. Holden Strauss made himself comfortable in the back the classroom, and other English III students Ezra didn't recognize made their way to other desks. Taking a sip of coffee, he turned to the blackboard to write his name "Mr. Fitz" in white chalk. The bell rang and he turned around to address the class, grabbing his coffee mug from his desk.

The first thing he noticed was that Emily Fields was sitting in the fourth row, the second thing he noticed, almost instantaneously, was that Aria was sitting next to her, one row over from the windows, and she didn't look like the Aria he remembered. "Holy Crap" were the first words out of his mouth, and her eyes looked up to meet his.


	9. August 21-22, 2011

**A/N here it is folks! I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I might have to come back and change a few things. Tell me what you think!**

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Aria remembered what happened the morning of August 21, 2011. She could recall it with surprising clarity even years later. She even remembered her dad saying once, on a summer day a long time ago, "Maybe you'll have Aria in your class one day." That day had come. As the school bell rang and Ezra's eyes met hers, she knew that he had seen the changes in her, that he had realized that this new Aria was confident and sure of herself.

When they told this story afterwards, Ezra would say, "That was the first time I realized you weren't a little girl."

This new Aria was well-traveled, took great care in her appearance and wore make-up. This new Aria was curvy and her brown hair, now void of its bright pink highlights, reached past her elbows. This new Aria knew what she wanted and wasn't going to take no for an answer.

The first class she had with Ezra, he cleared his throat after his faux paux and introduced himself to the class and had each member of the class introduce themselves to him. He assigned an essay for homework that night, telling them to write about an experience that defined them.

Although Aria paid attention in class, her mind wandered. She had spent a lot of time alone in Iceland, and she had spent a lot of time writing and thinking, especially thinking about Ezra. She didn't remember realizing that she had come to care for him, caring for him in a way that a sister definitely doesn't care about a brother.

He ended class that day and she went on to her other classes, reconnecting with her friends and catching up on old news. After school, she spent some time at Hanna's house before heading home, and after dinner, she went over to Ezra's house.

She rang the doorbell and waited for thirty seconds for him to answer. She was just about to give up when he opened the door.

"Hi," she started softly.

"Hi," he answered back. He reluctantly opened the door wider, letting her in.

"I saw the gate," she started, sitting down on the sofa next to him. "That was nice of you."

"I thought you might like to come and go as you please," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "Unless you're too old to be using the tree house." He raised an eyebrow.

She laughed. "I don't think I'll ever be too old. I love that tree house." She sobered suddenly. "How was it, when we were away?"

"Things…changed," he finished lamely.

"I can see," stated Aria. She gestured towards the walls. "New paint job, huh?"

"Among other things," he answered.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "How's Jackie?"

He shrugged. "We broke up over a year ago."

"Oh," she started. "I didn't know." She got up and started walking around.

"What have you been up to?" she asked, fingering some of the pictures on the shelf.

"This and that," he said cryptically.

"Hm," she answered. She picked up a picture of his grandparents before putting it down again.

He waited a moment for her to continue, but when she didn't say anything, he asked her "What are you doing here, Aria?"

"I came by so say hi." She returned to her seat next to him.

Her leg brushed his and he recoiled. "No, what are you really doing here?"

She sighed and looked at him, twisting the ring she was wearing around her finger. "So much has changed in the last year, I came to see if you had changed too."

He looked at her carefully. "I'm still the same."

She was suddenly angry. "Then was what that all about this morning?"

"What?" he asked feigning innocence.

"You know," she stopped her fidgeting and looked at him until he looked away.

"I'm not the one who's changed, Aria," he said. He looked back at her pointedly. When his expression didn't change, he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his face before responding. "You're not the little girl who knocked on my door when she was twelve."

"I'm almost seventeen. You'll be around for my birthday this year." He realized that she was deliberately trying to misunderstand. She looked away and looked back. "You're right, I'm not that little girl who came over here to use the tree house anymore." She got up and turned to leave. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Fitz." He winced when she called him by his title.

She had reached the front door before he put out a hand to stop her. "Don't go," he whispered.

"Why not?"

"Because," he grabbed her hand and was shocked for a moment at the electricity that bounded through him when their fingers connected. She looked at him and instinctively leaned in, he reciprocated. As soon as their lips touched, the clung to each other. Their bodies were familiar to each other, and she reached to put her arms around his neck and he reached for her waist. In the space of a few minutes, they were back on the couch, and she was straddling him. She was nibbling at his ear when he stopped her.

"No," he said, pushing her away. She plopped down on the sofa cushion next to him. "We can't do this."

"Why not?" she asked. She was leaning on her elbow and she looked seductively at him. "Why not if we want to?"

"I'm your teacher now, Aria," he shook his head. "I'm sorry." He saw that she was hurt, but when he refused to offer any other explanation, she got up slowly and walked toward the door.

She reached for the door handle before she spoke. "You're more than just my English teacher." She looked at him wistfully before she left, closing the door behind her.

He stared at the door a few minutes after he left and then let out a frustrated sigh. He went into the kitchen and poured himself scotch. Heading back into his living room he stared out the window. He could see Aria in her room. It was brightly lit and the window curtains had been swept aside. She was writing at her desk. He took another swig of his scotch and set it down on the coffee table before heading down the hallway to his study.

He knew exactly why she had come over that night, and it had nothing to do with how he was doing. When his eyes had met hers in class that day, something had passed between. It was a realization, a spark of electricity, a moment when each realized the attraction they had for the other. This new, grown-up Aria wanted to investigate, to push her boundaries. She had wanted to see if he would give in.

They avoided each other in class the next day, August 22, the only real moment of danger when Aria turned in her essay, brushing her fingers against. He took his cue from her and ignored it. He sat at his desk after class had ended, mentally preparing himself for his free period. He flipped through the essays on his desk, looking for the paper with Aria's name. When he found it, he picked it out of the pile and read it carefully.

_There are many moments that define a person. Those moments become hours, those hours days, and those days years until an entire lifetime has gone by in the blink of an eye. As those moments, hours, days, hours and years pass by, we are left thinking about the choices we have made. Sometimes we regret those choices, other times we are glad we acted spontaneously. However, acting spontaneously does not always mean acting without thought just as thinking about something does not necessarily mean making that thought into an action. Impulse is part of human nature, but so is caution. That is why a defining moment in my life is one that was born of both an impulsive urge and an act of caution. _

_My journal records the date as September 6, 2005, only days before I turned eleven years old. I had known Mr. and Mrs. Springer my entire life; they had lived in the house next door to mine for as long as I could remember. It was a Saturday when I knocked on the door and asked to play in the tree house in their backyard. Mrs. Springer answered the door. She was warm and friendly and offered me cookies and a glass of milk. Mr. Springer was a little gruff, the sort of friendly toughness that clings to grandfathers. He showed me the tree house and said that I could use it any time I wanted. That moment was the first in a series of moments and visits and adventures at the Springer's. That moment led to other moments that have shaped me into the person I am today. _

_I had always wondered why Mr. and Mrs. Springer had a tree house in their backyard. I found the courage to ask them the summer of the following year. I knew that they didn't have children and people with children rarely visited them. After I asked, Mr. Springer grew quiet and Mrs. Springer dabbed tears out her eyes. Mr. Springer cleared his throat before saying it was for a little boy they loved very much that used to visit them sometimes. They looked so sad when I asked that I never asked again. I was happy enough to let Mrs. Springer feed me treats forbidden at home, and Mr. Springer to tell me stories from when he was a boy. It was Mr. Springer who encouraged me to start writing a journal. He used to say that by writing down what happened today, we have memories for all our tomorrows. Mr. Springer also encouraged me to read. He took me on my first trip to the public library. I think that moment was another defining moment. _

_Mr. and Mrs. Springer were killed by a drunk driver in the spring of 2007. My journal records that day as one of the saddest in my life. It was few months later that the boy they built the tree house for, their grandson, Ezra, moved into their old house. He was sad and his face was tired and full of regret. He came to get to know the grandparents he never knew. He came for them, but I think he really came for me. He was the first person to ever give me a book, and he let me read in the tree house even though his grandparents were gone. He gave me Mrs. Springer's favorite necklace for my thirteenth birthday. A part of me believes that he will never know how much that meant to me. He became a part of my family. He took me to my first concert and watched me after my father's accident. He spent a large part of my formative years making sure I was okay and watching over me. _

_I came back to Rosewood after spending a year in Iceland, where the sun goes down in October and does not come back up until March. I spent a lot of time thinking while I was away, isolated from the rest of the world. I thought about Alison, my secretive friend who disappeared the day after we finished ninth grade. I thought about Holden Strauss, my first boyfriend who felt more like my brother. I thought about Hanna, Emily, and Spencer, my friends who were going through trials and tribulations in their own lives. I thought about my parents and wondered if they would get divorced. Most of all, I thought about Mr. and Mrs. Springer and their grandson, Ezra Fitz. When I came back from Iceland, I came home changed. While I knew I had changed physically, most people do not realize that I changed mentally and emotionally too. I came back to Pennsylvania knowing what I wanted. Some people think that a woman receiving what she desires is a dangerous thing. I think it is a powerful symbol. Mrs. Springer taught me that a woman should be confident and comfortable with herself, Mr. Springer showed me that a woman could and should have a mind of her own, and Ezra continues to impress upon me that nothing I truly want to achieve is ever out of reach. I only have to believe in myself to make it come true. _

_The day I went over to Mr. and Mrs. Springer's house was a defining moment in my life. It was _a_ defining moment but it was not _the_ defining moment of my life. I continue to do reckless things, and even when I try to temper them with prudence, the results I receive are not always the ones that I want to achieve. Yesterday, I seemed impulsive and perhaps even a tad thoughtless when I went to pick up the pieces that Mr. and Mrs. Springer and Ezra had left for me. It was another moment in a series of moments that have composed my life. However, my actions had been carefully thought out, and I had been willing to accept the consequences. I do not want to live with regret or secrets that are too heavy to bear. Instead, I want to live all the moments that make up the days that make the years that make up my life to the fullest even if doing so goes against society's wishes and propriety. Mr. and Mrs. Springer taught me that life is too short to live otherwise. _

Ezra let out a sharp breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding and set the essay down on his desk. He looked at Aria's empty desk, one row over from the windows, and pictured her sitting it. But the picture that came to mind was not one of a dutiful student and innocent young lady. He saw her as she smiled in the sunlight and in the tears she refused to shed in the darkness of the night. He saw her as the woman she had become.

He hadn't realized it before, but there was a lot he didn't know about Aria. He frowned when he realized they had never really talked, not about anything that really mattered anyway. He leaned back in his chair thoughtfully. She had made her move and the ball was now in his court.


	10. August-September 2011

**A/N I know it's taken me longer than usual to update, and I apologize. Spring Break is over and school is starting up again. My updates will become less frequent, but I promise I won't forget to update regularly. Because it'll be my last update for a few days, I've made this chapter extra long. Enjoy. Review!**

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Ezra had been ready to make his move when, three days later on August 25, 2011, Alison's body was unearthed. The whole town seemed go into mourning, their grief at a life lost too early seemed to penetrate everything around them. Aria's journal entry for that day read "there's no coming back from death."

The funeral, held two days later on August 27, 2011, was an enormous affair. Everyone showed up. Even, Aria and her friends noted, Jenna Marshall, who had been away at boarding school. Ezra was there too although he could not recall meeting Ali, even though he was sure he must have seen her in the halls of Rosewood High.

He followed the stairs of the funeral home to a secluded corner, suspecting that Aria would want some time to herself before the service started. He found her staring at a large stained glass window.

"She was one of your friends, wasn't she?" asked Ezra coming up behind.

Aria looked at where he stood beside her, and answered "Yeah, she was one of my best friends." She looked away.

He knew what she was waiting for, so he said it. "I don't know what I feel worse about—ending things with you or being a jerk about it." He paused. "I'm sorry."

She turned to him, "For Alison or for being a jerk?"

He met her eyes. "Both."

She nodded her head. "Thank you." She looked down and then back up. "I never wanted to do anything that would get you into trouble." He blinked and swallowed at her words. She reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek, and Ezra noticed that with her heels on, she didn't have to tiptoe to do it anymore. "Good-bye, Ezra," she whispered.

She began to walk away, but he reached out for her hand, pulling her close. Her body pressed against his and he began to kiss her, she could feel his desire and his need to explore what this was before he ended it. She kissed him back with just as much fervor. That night on August 27 her journal read "there's no coming back from love either."

Something had changed between them, permanently changed between them. At Wednesday dinners he held her hand under the table when he could get away with it, and at school they exchanged glances in the hallway. Aria felt that a smile had been permanently engraved on her face.

On September 10, a Saturday, her journal was stained and wrinkled from droplets that fell from her soaking wet hair. "Dancing in the rain," her entry read. She had been walking home from the old movie theater downtown when suddenly the rain started to pour down. She had no jacket or umbrella, nothing. She had been walking in the cold wetness for approximately two minutes when a familiar silver Camry drove up beside her. He parked about twenty feet from where she was, opening the passenger door to let her in. She climbed into the passenger's seat and he drove into an alley where he parked the car.

He looked at her, and she at him and within two seconds their lips came together furiously. They held on to each other as if by their closeness they were giving each other life. Aria wasn't sure how long they stayed there like that. She didn't care, and she suspected Ezra didn't either. It seemed like hours later although it must have been only a few minutes when he pulled into his driveway. They looked at each other before exiting the car, no words needed for message they shared.

She made her way to her house, ringing the wetness out of her hair and taking off her soaking sweater. He stared at her as she walked his eyes on the front door long after she had opened and closed it. He sighed and walked into his own house. It was later that night when he sat on his bed and looked at the dream catcher that rested on his bedpost that he realized that he and Aria still had never talked. Not really. They had spoken as neighbors, as friends, and even siblings, but they had never had a discussion as equals. It was high time he rectified that.

Two days later, on September 12, she came visit him during his off-period. "My friends and I saw you yesterday at the park," she stated, without preamble. "You were riding your bike. They thought you had nice legs."

He was intrigued. "What did you think?" he asked, genuinely wanting to know her answer.

She looked away. "I was embarrassed they thought you had nice legs."

He looked away too. "I guess you weren't the only one who grew up this last year."

"I guess not," she answered.

He sighed. It was either now or never. "There are things we need to talk about, things we need to cover that we can't between classes or at dinner at your parents' house. Come over tonight?"

She looked at him carefully before answering. "What time?" she asked softly.

"Seven," he replied.

She nodded her head. "I'll be there." The bell cut off their conversation, and she walked out of his classroom.

Her journal entry for September 12, 2011 was long and detailed, but it was written in riddle and rhyme, confusing even to her when she read it years later. "I was upset, angry, and hopeful," she said years later. "All at the same time."

She showed up at his house promptly at seven o'clock. He opened the door, hair slightly disheveled, a towel over his shoulder.

"What did you tell your parents?" he asked.

"They are at the art gallery downtown that Mom has pieces at. Some new artist is showing his work. Mike's across the street with Gavin."

He gestured her towards the kitchen. "I tried making your grandmother's ravioli, but I don't think mine turned out as well as your mother's."

When she entered the dining room area, she saw that he had set the table with Mrs. Springer's nice china and a white candle was lit in the center of the table.

"I think food is going to be the last thing on my mind tonight," she said after stumbling upon the scene. She leaned up to give a thank-you kiss, but he leaned away, avoiding. She stopped her advance, confused.

She sat down across the table from Ezra and waited for him to speak before she dug into her food.

"Do you know that we've ever really talked," he began.

"What you mean?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. "We've known each other for years."

"I read your essay the other day, and I realized just how little we know about each other," he tried again.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. She was less interested in her dinner than she was intrigued by their conversation.

"What do you want to tell me?" he replied.

She cocked her head to the side. "You know how I met your grandparents."

He nodded. "Is there anymore to the story?"

"I loved them," she breathed softly. "My own grandparents died before I was born. The closest I ever got to them was a run-down cottage in the middle of nowhere in Italy. Mr. and Mrs. Springer were like grandparents to me."

He looked at the white table cloth and brushed off a piece of invisible lint before asking, "Do you blame me for not being there?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Springer didn't, and if they didn't why should I?" she countered.

"You do," he state simply looking at her. "I've known you for a long time, and I can tell when you're upset about something."

Aria felt her anger rising. "Fine. But don't tell me what I do and don't feel. You weren't there, Ezra," she spat out. "You weren't there when Mr. Springer looked at your picture and wondered why you decided not to visit. You weren't there when Mrs. Springer looked at me and said. 'I hope he marries a nice girl one day, like Aria, so we could see him more often.' You weren't there." She finished flatly.

"How can you know?" he was coldly angry and she knew she had provoked him. "You're just a child."

"Well if I'm such a child, then why did you invite me here tonight?" she yelled. She got up from her chair and walked out the door. He did nothing to stop her.

On September 15, 2011, Aria turned seventeen. She was given the usual chocolate-chip pancakes and her mother sand a rendition of Happy Birthday, but her birthday didn't feel very cheerful. Ezra ignored her in class, and she refused to look at him.

"Aria, are you okay?" asked Emily during lunch.

"Yeah, Ar," echoed Spencer, "You don't look very happy. It's your birthday," she said suggestively. "It's supposed to be the one day out of the year where you get everything you want."

"Sorry, guys," said Aria picking at her food. "I guess I don't feel very festive. This time last year I was freezing up in Iceland and the only birthday present I got was a tacky sweater my dad thought was cute."

"Well, your home now. You should live it up, make your parents make up for last year," said Hanna munching on her salad.

"Hanna," exclaimed Spencer.

"What?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Han," said Aria, half-smiling. "But it's more than that. Alison too. She didn't live to turn seventeen, much less sixteen."

"They still haven't found her killer, have they?" asked Emily

"No," muttered Spencer. "But I have a few names I would like to suggest to the police."

"Spence?" asked Hanna.

"What's going on?" asked Aria.

"Nothing," said Spencer. "Forget it. It's Aria's birthday, we should focus on her."

"Is everything going to be okay?" Emily asked Aria.

"I hope so," Aria breathed, ending the conversation. She didn't tell them that Ezra felt closer last year, ten thousand miles away, then he did this year, right next door.

It was Saturday, September 16, when Ezra finally talked to her. She used the gate to get to the tree house. She knew that she was testing him to see if he would stop her, to see if he would speak to her again. She wanted to know what he would do.

She took a book and sat in the corner of the creaky old tree house. She had read eighty pages before she heard a sound below her, and the house shook as she felt someone climb up the rope ladder. Ezra poked his head through.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she answered quietly. She set the black and red book down next to her and looked at him.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

"_Love in the Time of Cholera_," she responded. "By Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's about a man who's waited decades to be with the woman he loves."

He nodded and sat down next to her. "I know. I've read it." He brushed her out of her face, caressing her cheek in the process. "What really happened in Iceland, Aria? What aren't you telling me?"

She looked out the cutout window and saw the sun shining and faintest hint of orange on the oak leaves. She swallowed and looked back. "It's not what happened in Iceland. It's what happened before." She paused a minute, thinking carefully about what she would say. "Do remember that day you took me to school? The one where you gave me _The Scarlet Letter _to read?" he nodded in response. "You didn't realize at the time how ironic it was. I had caught my dad the day before in his car, making out with one of his students. I was walking home with my friend Alison, and we just saw him there in the alley. He knew I had seen him and while Mom and Mike were out of the house, he came to my room and asked me not to say anything. And I didn't until now." She looked at her fingernails.

"And the other night?" he pushed her.

She looked back up at him before responding. "I stopped by my dad's office on the way home from school. _She _was there. Meredith. He told me it was nothing, that she worked there now. I was looking for someone to blame, and I blamed you for not being there." Aria's eyes slowly began to fill with tears.

"I felt lost the year you were gone," he started, picking up where she left off. "I remodeled the house, I planted a garden, I traveled. I don't know if I was losing myself or finding myself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I went to Ireland over Christmas break. I had started to read _Ulysses_ and I thought that if I walked the same places Joyce had walked and saw the same things he had seen, it would help."

"Why didn't you come visit us?" she asked. "You were so close, only a plane ride away."

"I did," he responded, startling her. Her eyes grew big as she looked at him. "I made it to Reykjavik and I even figured out where you guys were staying from Byron's emails. But," he sighed. "I heard your voices. Mike was laughing and Ella was talking to Byron. I realized then that you guys weren't my family. As much as I wanted it to be, you weren't my family. You guys had gone to Iceland to rebuild your relationship, and it wasn't until I was on your front stoop that I realized I didn't belong there. I took the next flight to New York and came home."

He looked at Aria carefully after his confession. She reached for his hand. "Thank you," she said eventually.

His response was nothing but a kiss on the lips that evolved into more kisses and more kisses until they were on the floor of the tree house, locked in a passionate embrace.

That night, Aria didn't write anything in her journal. There were some memories that just didn't need to be recorded.

Meanwhile, while Aria and Ezra were in the tree house, Ella and Byron were looking towards Ezra's yard.

"What do you think is happening up there?" asked Byron, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"I'm sure they're getting reacquainted. We've been gone a year. I'm sure they have a lot of catching up to do, they've always been close," answered Ella.

"Hmm," answered Byron. "Does it bother you that Aria still goes over there, now that he's her teacher?"

"I hadn't thought about it that way," admitted Ella. "With our jobs Aria's always been around teachers and professors, and Ezra's been our neighbor for years."

"Still," said Byron, "maybe we should talk to her about it, explain to her that things are different now."

"Maybe," responded Ella. "Maybe she won't listen, either."

It was Monday night, September19, when Byron came into her room.

"Aria?" he asked tapping at the open door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, Dad," she responded, setting her journal on the bed next to her. "What's up?"

Byron cleared his throat. "I know you and Ezra have always been close, but he's your teacher now, maybe you guys should distance yourselves a little," he suggested.

"Dad," asked Aria, taken aback. "Are you saying I shouldn't be friends with Ezra anymore? It's not like he's going to give me better grades or anything because I'm the girl next door."

"I know," sighed Byron, "But maybe you should be a little more respectful of his position?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Dad," said an exasperated Aria. "I'm not going to stop talking to Ezra because suddenly he's my teacher.

Byron hung his head in defeat. "Just think about it, okay?" He left her bedroom, the question open between them.

At the bottom of the page for September 19, the words relationship and teacher were underlined and there were question marks next to them.


	11. September 2011

**A/N Sorry this took so long! For anyone who is wondering, I do not have twitter or instagram. Sorry. Enjoy! I'm going to be using some of the plot from season 1 so this part of the story will go much slower. I do not own PLL. **

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On September 18, 2011, Aria got to school early and went the office before heading to Ezra's classroom. She saw few people while she walked the halls. A couple of athletes who went to early morning practice, several teachers who gripped their coffee mugs and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, and one or two students in the library, furiously scribbling the answers to their homework so it would be ready to be turned when the bell rang. Aria headed towards Ezra's classroom and stared at him through the glass of the door for a few moments watching him as he bent over his work. She went inside and put a slip of paper on his desk.

"I want to transfer out of your class," she stated.

He looked up at her, watching as she sat on the edge of his desk. "Aria, if this is about what happened in the tree house…"

"No, No," she sputtered, "it's not about that." She paused. "Actually it is kind of about that. My dad saw us the other day, in the tree house. I mean, he didn't see what we were doing but he knew that you were up there with me and talked to me about it. He wants us to distance ourselves now that you're my teacher, and I can't sit in here and call you Mr. Fitz. I can't act like I don't know you." She moved her hand and grazed his purposefully.

He sighed. "I know why you want to do this, but I wish you would stay in the class." Ezra looked at her hopefully.

Aria shook her head. "Please?"

He looked at her and then at that paper and that back at her. "Are you sure this is what you really want?"

Aria could see the hurt in his eyes, but she nodded anyway. "I'm sure."

He signed the form and handed it to her, touching her hand in the process.

"I'll see you later?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," he answered quietly. Suddenly the bell rang and the halls flooded with students. Aria walked out of his classroom and although her hearty was heavy, she knew she had made the right decision.

The afternoon of September 18, Aria wrote in her diary "the hardest things in life are doing what you know is right." She decided not to go to Ezra's that day.

The next day, September 19, was a crisis day. "I broke up with Sean," Hanna sputtered over lunch.

"Han, are you okay?" asked Spencer.

"I'll be fine," she responded with a small smile.

Emily, who had been quietly eating her salad blurted "I broke up with Ben."

"What?" cried Aria. "I thought you two really liked each other."

"We do," answered Emily. "I mean, we did." She shook her head, "We weren't right for each other."

"At least you two don't have boyfriends to worry about," said Hanna flatly as she swallowed a spoonful of her yoghurt.

"If it were only that simple," muttered Spencer under her breath.

"Yeah," Aria echoed. Suddenly she sat up and smiled. "Do you guys want to have a little girl time this Saturday? I think we need a break from guys."

"What are you thinking?" asked Emily.

Aria glanced at Spencer and then said, "Spencer, do you think your parents would let us borrow their lake house for the weekend?

"I don't know," answered Spencer. "There all this going on about Melissa's wedding and her fiancé, Wren, and I have a Russian lit. paper due."

"Spence," snapped Hanna, "Forget your family. We haven't really hung out together since Aria got back from Greenland."

"Iceland, Hanna," corrected Aria.

"Whatever," shot back Hanna. "Spencer?"

Spencer sighed and looked at them, "Alright, I'll ask. But if I get B on this Russian lit. paper…."

"Chill," said Aria as she went back to eating her salad. "You're Spencer Hastings. You'll get an A with both hands tied behind your back if we have to drag you to the cabin in the trunk of your car."

"Can I bring Maya?" Emily ventured. "She moved down the street from me a few weeks ago, and I think it would be good if she made some friends."

"Why not?" answered Spencer.

That afternoon Aria wrote in her journal. "Sometimes we need to let some things go in order to move on." As she wrote she looked out the window of her room, peeking into Ezra's living room. She saw that the curtains were closed. That was unusual. She decided to go next door.

She knocked on Ezra's bright red door tentatively, but when he didn't answer she turned the knob and opened it herself. "Ezra?" she called out.

"In here," he called from the back room. She walked down the narrow hallway until she saw him in his laundry room. He was folding clothes.

She leaned against the door frame. "Ezra Fitz doing laundry," snickered Aria, "Who knew?"

"Hey," he responded. "I've been doing my laundry for years."

"So is this how it is then," she answered back. "Teach in the morning, write in the afternoon, play housewife at night?"

He moved his head back and forth. "Maybe," he answered. "I've been living here for five years now? At some point I got tired of taking my things to the dry cleaners."

"Six years," she answered back. "It's been six years." She watched as he struggled to fold his sheets. "Here, let me help you with that." She walked over to him and grabbed the sheet, folding it in no time.

"Thanks," he responded.

"You're welcome," she responded leaning to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he moved his face so his mouth met hers. She leaned into it, wrapping her arms around his neck. He moved closer to her wrapping his arms around her waist. As things became more heated, she ran her hands through his hair and he grabbed her by the thighs. She straddled him as he set her down on the washer and her hands roamed over his body.

"We need to talk," she murmured.

"Now?" he mumbled.

"You're right. It can wait," she whispered as her lips captured hers for another kiss. It was a while later when they ended their make-out session, both ending on the floor of the laundry room. Aria smoothed her hair as she leaned against the washing machine as Ezra buttoned the top buttons of his shirt.

"Wow," answered Aria. "I thought the tree house was intense."

"I know," answered Ezra breathlessly.

"What time is it?" she asked suddenly.

"Almost seven. Why?"

"I missed dinner," answered Aria. "My parents will be wondering where I am."

"Stay here," offered Ezra, "I'll order us something and we can watch a movie."

"Thanks, but I think I better head home." Aria and Ezra got up from their positions on the floor, Aria smoothing out her skirt as she did so.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" asked Ezra as he walked her to the front door.

"Yeah," she answered softly. "I need to get home." She was halfway out the door when she turned to Ezra and asked. "Hey, Ezra?"

"Yes?"

She gestured toward the living room curtains. "Why are they closed?"  
He looked away sheepishly. "I thought if you were going to be coming over here then I should probably keep the curtains closed so, um, prying eyes don't see anything they're not supposed too."

"Oh," answered Aria. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," answered Ezra watching as she walked out the door.

It was September 25, exactly a week since Aria and Ezra made out in his laundry room when Aria walked back into his house. In the seven days that had ensued, her transfer to Mrs. Welch's class had been rejected and she had spent a weekend with the girls. They drank a little too much and told maybe one too many secrets. At one point, she suspected that Hanna knew about her and Ezra, but all that had been forgotten in the wake of Emily's revelation. Spencer had caught her and Maya making out on the porch.

She walked into his house, not bothering to knock when she saw Hardy sitting in Ezra's living room.

"Aria?" asked Hardy. "Wow. Long time no see. By the looks of things very long time."

"Hi, Hardy," greeted Aria smiling and giving him a quick hug.

"Hey, I got beer," called Ezra as he walked from the kitchen.

"Aria," exclaimed Ezra as he handed Hardy his beer. "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"I thought, you know," said Aria, glancing at Hardy as she did so, "you might want to talk about the book you gave me, you know, _To Kill a Mockingbird._"

"Didn't you read that when you were like twelve?" asked Hardy. "I remember Ezra telling me that's how you guys met."

"Something like that," answered Aria, "but we're reading it in class and I thought he could help me with my essay."

"So you're in his class," said Hardy carefully.

"Um, maybe we can do this another time?" Ezra asked her carefully.

"Yeah," said Aria looking at him, "I'll just come by later. It was nice to see you Hardy."

"Stay, Aria," invited Hardy as he leaned against the couch. "I'm sure Ezra doesn't mind and I want to hear all about Greenland."

"Iceland," corrected Aria, but she still looked at Ezra.

"Stay," he echoed, and she did.

Later that night, after Aria had left to go back to her house, Hardy and Ezra still sat on the sofa, lingering over a half-empty box of pizza and empty beer bottles.

"I get it, Ezra," said Hardy, looking over to where his friend sat in the armchair. "She smart, she's pretty, and she's grown up a lot. But she's your student."

"I know," answered Ezra, sighing in frustration.

"You're not even going to argue with me? Or deny it?" asked Hardy, raising an eyebrow.

Ezra cradled his head in his hands and looked at his friend. "You've known us both for too long."

"I get it," Hardy repeated. "But she's a teenager. After this is all over, she'll end up with her diploma and you'll get a pink slip and a jump suit."

"But she's Aria," answered Ezra. He grabbed his nearly empty bottle of beer and took a swig. "She's the girl next door.

"Exactly," answered Hardy. "She's the_ girl_ next door." He paused. "Dude, what would happen if her parents found out?"

"I don't know," answered Ezra helplessly. "I don't know." He spent the rest of the night agonizing over what Hardy said to him. He wrote in his journal "I don't know" over and over again. Three days later, on September 28, he and Aria ended their relationship.


	12. October 2011

**A/N Quick update, but it will probably be my last one until Friday. For everyone who is uspet that Aria and Ezra broke up, remember I said that this part of the story follows season 1 pretty closely? That is a huge hint as to what is coming up next. Some things have to happen before they can solidify their relationship and understand what it is. I do not own PLL. Please tell me what you think! Reviews keep me motivated!**

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It was October 1, 2011, and it had been four days since Ezra had broken up with her. Aria looked out her bedroom window and sighed at the sight of the closed curtains in Ezra's house. He had closed himself off to her. Aria wasn't sure that she had let him but she wasn't sure that she hadn't either. She turned back to her writing "is this what rejection feels like?" Her journal entry was full of questions she couldn't answer, things she supposed only _he _could answer, but she didn't feel like talking to him right now. She still remembered their conversation, as if it had happened yesterday.

_"We can't do this, Aria," he said. There was a pained expression on his face. _

_ She stood in the middle of his living room and looked to where he stood across from her. "Sure we can. We're doing it right now."_

_ "No," he shook his head. "We tried to make this work, but I'm your teacher. What if someone found out?"_

_ "Who would find out?" she threw her hands in the air before wrapping them around her in a defensive position. She looked at him thoughtfully. "Hardy noticed, didn't he?"_

_ "Of course, he noticed, Aria," exclaimed Ezra in frustration. "He's not an idiot, and neither are the people in Rosewood. Eventually someone is going to find it odd that we're spending so much time together, and when they find out…" he didn't finish the sentence. _

_ "What? What?" yelled Aria. "You're my family_, Ezra. _My mom considers you her son._ _We've spent time together since I was twelve."_

_ "But I'm not your family, and I wasn't your teacher then," said Ezra helplessly, "And we weren't this," he gestured to the space between them. _

_ "So what? If we think it's right then who cares?" she exclaimed, balling up her fists by her side. _

_ "I care," Ezra told her defiantly. "I'm twenty-six years old, and I'm spending time with a high school student."_

_ "I thought I was more than that, Ezra." He could tell that she was hurt. That she needed comfort. _

_ "If someone finds out…" Ezra started again softly._

_ "I get it," said Aria angrily. She grabbed her bag from the floor and walked to the front door, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. "Good-bye, Ezra," she ground out before slamming his door. _

_ He was left alone in his house listening to the silence that enveloped helpless situations. _

Aria sighed and picked up her book, _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ by Zora Neale Hurston. She had finished the first chapter when her mother walked by her room.

"Dinner's almost ready," announced Ella. "Could you please come down and help set the table?"

"Sure," said Aria, but she didn't move.

"All right then," said Ella heading back downstairs.

"Mom?" called Aria.

"Yes, honey?" answered Ella, reappearing in the doorway.

"Did Ezra leave? I had a substitute in class today, Ms. Shepard, and his car isn't in the driveway."

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you," said Ella looking at her daughter. "He went to New York, something about an opportunity. He left in such a hurry I didn't catch everything he said."

"Oh," answered Aria. She looked at her window before looking back at her mother. "I'll be down in a minute."

"All right, then," said Ella, heading back to the kitchen. Aria did come down later, but she was quiet and despondent, and although Ella didn't say anything to her daughter, she mentioned it to her husband as they prepared for bed.

"Something's wrong with Aria," said Ella as she brushed her hair in front of the vanity.

"You noticed, too," questioned Byron from his place on the bed as he fluffed the pillow behind his back. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," answered Ella thoughtfully. She came to sit on the edge of the bed and looked at him. "I think it might have something to do with Ezra."

"Ezra?" Byron looked at his wife carefully. "What makes you say that?" he was genuinely puzzled.

"She asked about him today," answered Ella. She looked at where her husband was sitting and grabbed his hand. "They've always been close, and after we went away and came back," she sighed in mid-sentence. "Things changed. She grew up. He's her teacher." Ella let the thought hang.

Byron looked at her, understanding flashing in his eyes, "You don't really thing that they're…" he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Of course not," said Ella as she patted his hand to soothe him. "Ezra's like her brother, but they aren't as close as they used to be, and maybe it's affecting her more than she anticipated."

Byron relaxed a little, leaning back into the pillows. "Maybe it's a good thing. I'm not sure if I want them so close, not if he's her teacher. That can lead to some tricky situations."

"You would know," answered Ella, her voice absent of anger.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" asked Byron helplessly. "It was a foolish mistake. A mid-life crisis."

"I know," answered Ella. "But one more time would be nice." She leaned in and he reciprocated.

When Aria wasn't back to her regular self a week later on October 7, her friends staged an intervention. They bounded upstairs to her room take out in hand and jumped on the bed next to where she was lying listening listlessly to her iPod.

"Aria," squealed Hanna as she pulled an earplug from her ear.

"Hey," said Aria, pulling herself up so that her body rested on her headboard. "What's this?" she asked.

"An intervention," stated Spencer as she pulled up the window shades. Aria winced as the light streamed through her window.

"We know that you're upset about some boy back in Iceland," said Emily from her spot on the edge of her bed.

"How did you guys know about that?" she was confused.

"Your mom called and told us," answered spencer taking the take-out of the bags.

"Look, here's the deal, Aria," said Hanna plopping down magazines on her friends head. "Homecoming is in four days and you're going."

"But," started Aria.

"No buts," said Hana firmly. "I'm running for Homecoming queen and I need all the support I can get. And I need you to help me look my best."

"Way to cheer her up, Han," said Spencer.

Hanna looked at Spencer. "What? My problems are more important than whatever guy she left in Greenland."

"Iceland," corrected Emily automatically.

Hanna looked at Aria, "Well, dresses, music, dancing. What else could a girl want?"

"A date," answered Aria automatically.

"Look," said Hanna. "I know Sean and I broke up but we're still going together. You can borrow him."

"You can borrow Alex, too."

"Who's Alex?" asked Emily.

"He's this guy that works at the Club," she answered.

"You're blushing," exclaimed Hanna.

"No I'm not," mumbled Spencer, looking away.

"You totally are. Isn't she, Aria?" asked Hanna.

"Leave Spencer alone," said Emily softy. "She should go with whoever she wants to go with."

"Em?" asked Spencer. "What's going on?"

Emily played with a piece of her hair before looking up at her friends and saying, "Toby Cavanaugh asked me to Homecoming."

"You mean creepy Toby Cavanaugh who blinded his stepsister?" asked Hanna, wrinkling her nose.

"What about Maya," questioned Aria.

"Yeah," echoed Spencer. "I thought you really liked Maya."

Emily sighed. "I do, but I don't know how to tell my parents about it. Besides, she's going away this weekend with her family. Toby knows were going as friends. He said he wants to talk about something, something about Jenna."

"Be careful, Em," warned Spencer.

"Can we get over the whole doomsday of dates thing and go back to picking dresses?" exclaimed Hanna. "How do you think I should wear my hair?"

On October 11, 2011, Aria was standing in the Rosewood High gym listening to Spencer bark orders to the student council members about how things should be going.

"Aria?" asked Spencer.

"Yes?" she answered, her head snapping back to her friend.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing," replied Aria looking over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" asked Spencer, folding her arms across her chest.

"Nothing," said Aria passively.

"Well, Hanna was looking for you."

"Oh," answered Aria, "I'll go find her then." She walked to where Hanna was standing at the far end of the gym. "Hey, Hanna," greeted Aria.

"What do you think has gotten into the two?" responded Hanna pointing to where Melissa and Spencer were arguing.

"What's Melissa doing here?" asked Aria.

"I don't know, but it looks like she has a bone to pick with Spencer," answered Hanna.

"Where's Emily?" asked Aria.

"Probably off somewhere with Toby," said Hanna gesturing to Sean and his friend from the other corner of the gym. "Aria," began Hanna, "this is Noel, Noel Khan."

"Nice to meet you," said Noel. "Wow," he exclaimed looking Aria over. "I'm sorry," he apologized to Aria, "But wow."

Hanna pointed to the dance floor. "Why don't you guys go dance?"

"Come on," said Noel, grabbing Aria's hand and pulling her in towards the crowd. They started dancing, Aria more half-heartedly than her partner. She continued to look around the gym stopping when she spotted the person she was looking for.

"I'm sorry," she said to Noel. "I can't do this." She pulled away from him and walked out into the hallway of Rosewood High.

Ezra was walking past lockers and classrooms, sighing in frustration.

"Ezra," she called out, and he stopped when he heard her voice.

"Aria," he greeted.

"You got a haircut," she stated.

"Yes," he said his hand automatically coming up to touch his head.

"Well," she ventured. "Are you going to tell me where you've been or are you just going to let me fill in the blanks?"

"I was in New York. I had an interview," Ezra stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"You're leaving?" she exclaimed.

"Well, I," he started.

"Don't bother," snapped Aria.

Ezra sighed and began again. "I thought we could make this work, but seeing you out there on the dance floor with guys your own age. I can't compete with that."

"Nobody's asking you to," offered Aria.

He shook his head, "You deserve more than eating take-out and being holed up in my house." He paused, "Because I can't take you to a nice restaurant or a movie."

"It doesn't matter," answered Aria.

"It does to me," he answered softly. He gestured toward the back of the hallway. "Your friends are looking for you," he told her before turning around and walking away.

Aria spent the rest of Homecoming looking for Emily with her friends. They found her in a chem lab talking to Toby. Afterwards she told them that Toby didn't hurt Jenna. Somebody else had framed him.

"Who would do that?" asked Aria.

"Alison," answered Spencer without hesitation.

"He said it was Alison," echoed Emily softly.

On top of these revelations, Aria spent the next week avoiding Noel and not talking to Ezra. The only time she did so was when it was absolutely necessary in class. He didn't come over for dinner that Wednesday night.

A week later, on October 18, Aria has signed up to take her SAT at the high school, but the weather had cancelled the test although she was kept at the school with the rest of the students. She couldn't avoid Noel any longer, and she found that she didn't want to anymore. He was nice, and he liked her. They even snuck away to an empty classroom to talk and play the guitar. It was only later, when it was too late, that she realized that they had snuck in to Ezra's classroom, and Ezra, who had arrived at the testing site late, walked in on Noel kissing her.

He cleared his throat, interrupting the couple, and Aria looked away from him and at the floor.

"Mr. Kahn," began Ezra, "They want all students in the library." He looked pointedly where Noel was sitting. Ezra turned to her. "Ms. Montgomery, I need to talk to you about the homework assignment."

Noel left, looking at Aria and Ezra curiously as he did so.

Aria was furious, "You had no right," she began.

"I have every right," Ezra answered. "I'm the teacher, remember?" He paused and looked at her.

"He's actually really smart," Aria defended herself, "and funny, and he likes old movies."

"I didn't say anything," he answered back.

"Yes, you did," said Aria as she angrily stalked out the classroom. Ezra watched her go. They didn't talk to each other until November. He didn't call on her in class, and she didn't go over to his house. If Ella and Byron thought any of it odd, they didn't say anything. But Mike, who had watched his sister carefully since their return from Europe, noticed something was wrong, and he intended to find out what it was.


	13. November 2011

**A/N Enjoy! Thank you for the reviews. They really are really very lovely and enouraging. :) I do not own PLL.**

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"How could you?" uttered Aria, her voice deadly calm and quiet.

"Aria, what?" Ezra left his thought uncompleted as she slammed a book onto his desk. The school day had just ended, and the halls were growing quiet as people left.

"How could you write these things and feel these feelings and give up on us so easily?" Her voice was becoming frantic and emotional.

"Aria, listen, I," he began again.

"No, you listen," exclaimed Aria. "You led me to believe that being in a relationship with me was a big mistake."

Ezra looked at her blankly, willing himself to say something, "I never meant for you to read that."

"Then why did you write it?"

He ignored the question, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

"The right thing for who?" she demanded. "For me? For you? I don't know which story to believe…the I missed you while you were in Iceland story, the you've grown up so much since you were away story, the we shouldn't be together story."She was furious, her anger was just below the surface.

"Aria, it was the right thing for you. That's the truth."

"Oh, are we going to talk about truth now. Yesterday's truth or today's or next week's? Here's the truth, Ezra. We're over, and my age didn't ruin us, you did."

"What's going on here?" Suddenly Noel was at the door, and he was starting at the two people in the room with a dangerously bewildered look on his face.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing is going on here," said Aria before storming out of Ezra's classroom.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Ezra deadpanned to Noel. Noel remained silent and turned to follow Aria down the hallway. Ezra looked at the book Aria had left on his desk. It was a collection of poems by Ezra Pound that he had lent to Ella and on a blank page in the back of the book was poem that he had written about Aria. He stared at the page and then took the book and hurled it across his classroom until it hit the back wall. He sat back in his desk dejectedly.

It was November 8, 2011, and Aria hadn't felt like writing anything in her journal that day. She left the page blank.

On November 15 Aria went to a sleepover at Mona's. It was her birthday and her house was filled with girls and popcorn and hairspray. She left early. She didn't feel like gossiping or her doing her hair. Hanna offered to drive her home, but she declined, thinking the walk in the evening air would do her good. Mona only lived two blocks from her house.

She had just turned onto her street, looking forlornly at her feet, when the vibration of her phone caused her to take it out of her back pocket.

It was Noel. _Where are you?_

She ignored his text, slipping her phone into her purse. She looked up and saw that she was near Ezra's front yard. The lights were on in his house, but she couldn't see him through the window. A part of her wanted to go into the tree house, her childhood refuge, and curl into a ball. Another part of her wanted to go home and cry herself to sleep in her own bed. Still another part of her remained quietly angry with Ezra and wanted to ring his doorbell and confront him. Her fury won.

She rang the doorbell, and he answered it. He looked disheveled and worn, haggard even.

"Aria?"

"You've got thirty seconds."

He craned his neck out the window and look onto the quiet street. "Come in?" he asked.

She stiffly complied, settling herself onto the familiar sofa of his living room, her arms crossed. He sat next to her.

"Aria, I didn't go to New York to leave you, I went for you. I thought that if I resigned from Rosewood, we would have a chance to be together."

Her face softened, but her tone of voice didn't change, "I'm still angry."

"Forgive me?" he begged, his voice barely above a whisper. She didn't answer. "Forgive me?" he repeated, leaning in to her. Suddenly she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him closer to her, her lips on his. How long they were like that, neither of them could say. Later, Aria would recall the flash of headlights and the quiet intrusion of privacy.

After they had made up they looked at each other. No words were necessary to convey the emotions they felt. She leaned in to kiss him one more time. His hand rested on the small of her back, his other arm stroked her soft hair. They sat together on the couch. Her head lay in his lap and he continued to stroke her hair.

"Can we stay like this forever?" she asked.

"I wish." He leaned in to kiss her temple. A while later, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

She sat up and shook her head. "No, I'm more tired than anything else. I haven't been sleeping well lately," she admitted.

"Do you want to stay here?"

"My parents think I'm over at Mona's. They won't know I spent the night here," she responded slyly, pulling him from the couch. He gave her a look and followed her as she led him up the stairs.

When they reached the top Ezra started hoarsely, "I think you should stay in the guest bedroom."

He was surprised when Aria responded serenely, "I know." Nevertheless, she walked all the way down the hallway to the master bedroom.

"Aria," he sighed, following her into the room.

"I just wanted to see what it looked like," she maintained, her back to him. "I've never been in here." She took in the sight of the sparse room. It was painted a shade of green that was somewhere between sage and emerald, the king sized bed was covered with a homemade quilt. There was a dresser made of dark brown wood, and she could see the door leading to the bathroom. On the nightstand beside the bed there was a porcelain angel figurine and over the bedpost rested a dream catcher.

She walked to where it was and fingered it. "You kept it all these years," she said in awe.

"Of course," he answered softly, "you gave it to me."

She sat on the edge of the bed and continued to look around. "They're in here," she stated, "you kept them as part of this room." She ran her hand over the quilt.

He nodded. "I changed this room the least. I never repainted, and she made the quilt on the bed."

"Mrs. Springer did love angels," said Aria looking at the figurine.

"She did," smiled Ezra. Aria looked up and noticed he hadn't moved from his position in the doorway.

"I'm not going to bite," she said.

"I beg to differ," he laughed. But he still didn't move. She gave him a pointed look. He sighed. "I can't promise what will happen if I come in there."

She nodded and jumped off the bed coming towards him. "Good night, Ezra," she said, tiptoeing to kiss him on the cheek.

"Good night," he answered and watched as she entered a room down the hall.

The next morning on November 16, Hanna burst into her bedroom and dropped a duffel bag onto the floor. She shut the door behind her.

"I saw you and Mr. Fitz last night," she blurted. Aria looked up from where she was sitting on the window seat and took her earphones out of her ears.

"What did you say?"

"I saw you and Fitz last night," Hanna enunciated from where she stood in the middle of the room.

Aria was startled. "Hanna, I…"

"Weren't you going to tell me?" Aria realized that Hanna was hurt. "Geez, Aria, after I set you up with Noel. So there was no guy in Iceland?"

"Wait a minute," began Aria and walked to where her friend stood. "What did you see?"

"You and Fitz making out in his living room. I drove to your house, to make sure you were okay and you had forgotten your bag. Some of the guys crashed the party, and I knew you had walked home." Hanna shook her head. "You dumped us to be with him?"

Aria sat on her bed and looked up at her friend. "I really was going home. I just got a little side tracked."

"I know," said Hanna coming to sit beside her friend. "How long has this been going on?"

"For years," replied Aria calmly.

"Years?" exclaimed Hanna, scrunching up her nose. "Aria, that's creepy like disgustingly creepy."

"No, I mean," Aria took a deep breath and continued. "I've loved him for years, but what's going on between us, it only started when I came back from Europe."

"What about Noel?" Hanna asked quietly.

"I didn't mean to hurt him. I really didn't. Ezra had ended it with me but last night…" Aria let the thought hang.

Hanna stared at her friend. "I'm not the only one who saw you last night." She proceeded to tell Aria that when she had seen as she drove past Ezra's house. Noel had been there, staring through the open window to where Aria and Ezra had been making out. That night Aria's journal read "What next?"

On Monday, November 18, Aria found Noel in the music room.

"I'm sorry," she said. His back was too her and he was bent over his guitar. He turned to look at her.

"These things happen," he turned back to his music.

"So you won't tell anyone?" she asked.

He stopped strumming chords and turned back to her again. "What happens between you and your neighbor is your business." He looked at her.

"I really I am sorry," she repeated.

He gave her a twisted and sad smile, "I know. See you around?"

"Of course," she answered. He turned his back to her and she left the room.

Her journal entry for that day read "sometimes things do work out for the better."

Her sense of elation didn't last long. A week later, on November 25, she walked into Ezra's house and found him in his study, drinking. His shirt was untucked and he didn't have his tie on.

"What happened?" she exclaimed.

"Noel," he exclaimed hoarsely, talking another drink of brandy.

"What about Noel?" She was confused.

"He came to me today and asked me to change his grade." He shook his head and looked at her. "I can't do it Aria. I just can't."

She took his drink from him and set it firmly on the desk. Taking his hands in hers, she sighed and kissed him on the forehead. "What are you going to do?" He heard the fear in her voice, the sense of uncertainty that he also felt.

He looked at her. "I could resign. Then Noel wouldn't have anything to say to anyone."

Aria bit her bottom lip. "He was talking to Mike today at school. At first I didn't think anything of it, but now…what if he told Mike something about us?"

Ezra cocked his head. "Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't." He sat down in the desk chair and took another swig of his drink.

Aria shifted her weight between her feet for a moment before deciding to sit on his lap. "If my parents find out," she looked at him.

"I know," he answered. "We'll figure this out together."

"Together," she breathed calmly. But there was worry in her eyes.

The next morning on November 26, she found her friends in the school's courtyard. They were drinking coffee and talking. Aria sat next to them on the table, her sunglasses covering her bloodshot eyes.

"What happened to you?" asked Spencer.

"It was a long night," answered Aria shortly.

"Does it have to do with Mr. Fitz?" asked Emily innocently.

Aria, who had been drinking from her own coffee mug, nearly choked. "Hanna," she exclaimed hoarsely.

Hanna looked up from her texting and at her friend. "What?" she shrugged. "They were going to find out anyway."

Aria's shoulders slumped and she hunched over the table. "Noel knows and he's trying to blackmail Ezra into giving him better grades."

"What's he going to do?" Spencer questioned. There was a calculating look in her eye.

"Resign if he has to," Aria admitted. She put her face in her hands causing her sunglasses to ride up to the top of her head. "Why do I ruin everything?"

"Don't say that," said Emily with feeling, rubbing Aria's back in comfort.

"Yeah," chimed in Spencer. She smiled sadly. "At least you didn't ruin your sister's wedding by kissing her fiancé."

"What?" burst out Hanna, "You and Wren?"

Spencer nodded, "That's why he and Melissa broke up."

"And I thought I was having a hard time telling Lucas I only liked him as a friend," responded Hanna.

"Who's Lucas?" Aria asked, lifting her head up slightly.

"He's this really smart guy. He's nice," she shook her head, "but I don't like him like that and I don't think he gets it."

"I told my mom," whispered Emily. He friends gave her their undivided attention as she continued. "I told her about Maya, and she doesn't look at me the same."

"Oh, Em," breathed Aria, leaning to give her friend a hug.

"We've all got messed up love lives right now, Ar," said Spencer.

"We really do," answered Aria. Just then the bell rang, and the girls picked up their bags and walked into the school. Emily, who had been silently shedding tears, wiped them away as she leaned in for a drink of water at the fountain.

"What's going on?" asked Spencer, pointing to where Principal Hackett and Noel were loudly arguing.

"The answers to three midterms, Mr. Kahn," Principal Hackett was saying. "I can't imagine ever believing you again." Noel loudly protested as he was forced into the office. Aria heard the word suspension uttered out loud. Ezra, who had been watching the scene unfold from the doorway of his classroom, caught her gaze, and she returned it. He silently turned back into his classroom and Aria turned to her friends.

That night the word Mike was bolded in her journal.

"Why did you do it?" she asked her brother, walking into his room.

He was laying on the bed, reading a comic book. "Why did I do what?"Aria rolled her eyes and stared him down. He sighed. "Because you're my sister and Ezra has always been there when I needed him."

"How long have you known?" she asked, coming to sit next to him on the bed.

"Since Ezra stopped coming to Wednesday dinners." He sighed and layed down his comic book. "Noel tried to get a reaction out of me." Mike should his head. "He thought I would be upset about it."

"Are you?" she asked, bracing herself for an answer.

He shook his head. "I'm happy for you. Both of you. Ezra's been too sad since he moved here."

"Even though he's my teacher?" she asked.

"He's been Ezra much longer than he's been Mr. Fitz," he answered simply.

"And the age thing?" she probed further. She was curious.

"Okay, that's a little creepy," Mike admitted. "But I guess if you were twenty and he was twenty-nine it wouldn't be such a big deal. And if it's not going to be a big deal in three years, then why should it matter now?"

Aria smiled at her brother. "Thanks." She got up to leave but hesitated.

"Yes?" he encouraged.

"What do you think Mom and Dad will say if they find out?"

"You mean when they find out," retorted Mike. He sighed. "Dad won't be happy because Ezra's your teacher and we all know about Dad's Mistake." Dad's Mistake was always how they referred to Meredith and their father's infidelity.

"And Mom?"

"She won't be happy you kept such a big secret from her," Mike answered.

"Thanks, Mike," repeated Aria, she turned to go.

"Aria," Mike called.

She reappeared in his doorway. "Yes."

"It wasn't me," he said. "It was Caleb, Caleb Rivers."

"Why him?"asked Aria.

"Because he can't stand Noel Khan," answered Mike.

"Does he know?"

"No," Mike shook his head. "Caleb barely needed any explanation I had to give for sabotaging Noel."

"Am I the only one who was blind about Noel?"

"I don't think you were blind," Mike answered carefully. "Emotions tend to cloud people's judgments and perceptions." Aria looked at her brother. When had he grown up?


	14. January-March 2012

**A/N Please review! Remember, reviews=motivation=updates. How do you think this should end?**

* * *

On January 5, 2012, Ella was busy taking down the Christmas garland that hung over the mantle when Byron walked into the living room.

"Where's Mike?" he asked.

"Across the street with Gavin," answered Ella as she struggled to reach to where the garland had been secured.

"Let me get that," said Byron helping her.

"Thanks," said Ella sighing in relief.

"It was a good Christmas this year," began Byron as he dragged Ella over to sit next to him on the sofa.

"It was," responded Ella, resting her back on her husband's chest. "If only we didn't have to clean up in January."

He kissed her forehead. "Why didn't you get Aria to help you while I was at work?"

"She's at Ezra's," explained Ella. "She said that they were talking about a book or something. Something that didn't have to do with class." She felt Byron stiffen next to her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not comfortable with her spending so much time at Ezra's," answered Byron, looking out the window.

Ella sighed. "Their relationship has been kind of erratic lately, but they've always been good friends. I don't see why they should stop that now."

"He's her teacher now," exclaimed Byron expressively.

Ella rubbed a soothing hand over her husband's chest. "And?"

"And," Byron's face began to turn a peculiar shade of pink, "she's not a little girl anymore."

"No, she's not," Ella admitted.

"You're not worried?" he asked.

"I am a little bit," she said. "I always thought of him as her brother, as a nephew or son to me. But that doesn't mean she's him like that."

"He's nine years older than she is," said Byron in a worried, frantic tone.  
"And you're five years older than me," responded Ella. "And Elliot was twelve years older than Anne. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," he shook his head. "The Springers had been married for so long that it didn't seem to matter what their ages were."

"You see?" said Ella. "All things might turn out well."

"She's seventeen," began Byron again.

"Anne was sixteen," shot back Ella, "when they got married. I was twenty-one when we did."

"But he's her teacher," protested Byron.

"But he won't always be here teacher," stated Ella calmly. Byron was silent as the couple sat there. "Sometimes these things happen," Ella offered up lamely.

"Do you think it's happening now?" Byron winced.

"I don't know. But Aria is the age of consent." She deliberately left the last statement ambiguous.

"He's her teacher," Byron started up again.

"For now," responded Ella. Next door Aria and Ezra were sitting in his living room. They had been reading, but they had stopped staring at their respective books a long time ago. This time, the curtains were securely closed as Ezra and Aria cuddled next to each other.

On January 10 school started up again after a long Christmas break, and Hanna who had spent the holidays with her father in Maryland looked absolutely frazzled as she walked in the school doors that morning.

"What's wrong?" asked Emily as she grabbed books from her locker.

"Kate," ground out Hanna. "She's coming here."

"Wait," began Spencer. "Your stepsister's coming here? Rosewood here or school here?"

"Both," said Hanna looking into her compact mirror. "Ugh. I look like I haven't slept for a week."

"Have you?" asked Aria.

"No," responded Hanna shutting her mirror with a snap. "What about you guys? You don't look like the holiday spirit showered you with peace to the world."

"Melissa eloped," stated Spencer calmly.

"With who?" asked Aria.

"Ian Thomas."

"Isn't Ian the one who kissed you?"

"Yes," said Spencer shortly. She began to flip through her English textbook. "Melissa is going all housewife and saying that she wants a baby." Spencer looked up. "Something's not right."

"Aria?" probed Hanna, "What's wrong with you?"

Aria sighed and shut her locker with a resounding thud. "My mom has been asking questions about me and Ezra."

"What have you said?" asked Spencer.

"The usual. That we're just reconnecting after being gone such a long time, that I understand he's my teacher now and we need to be respectful of one another, that kind of thing."

"Do you think she knows?" asked Hanna.

Aria shook her head. "If she knew, we would all know."

"Emily, are you okay?" Spencer looked to where her friend leaned against the wall, deadly silent since they began talking.

"My mom," she whispered. "She found weed in Maya's bag. Maya went off to some kind of juvy camp."

"I am so sorry, Em," breathed Aria, giving her friend a hug.

"She'll be back in three months," said Emily hopefully.

"And you'll be waiting for her," replied Hanna. Suddenly, the bell rang and the foursome picked up their bags and headed to Ezra's classroom. Ezra didn't call on Hanna or Aria or Emily that day, sensing that something was wrong with them. On the other hand, he noticed that Spencer was particularly attentive, throwing all of her energy into her schoolwork.

"When did things become so complicated?" wrote Aria in her journal. She had gotten a new one for Christmas. Ezra had given it to her. It was made out of green leather, and it smelled like him. When she was done with her entry for the day, she hugged it close to her and breathed in his scent.

That Friday, on January 15, Ezra broke off from the scheduled curriculum and gave an unusual assignment.

"We've spent a lot of time talking about growing up and loss of innocence this year," he began, leaning against his desk. "I want to take some time to talk about how growing up affects us personally. Today, I want you to take out a clean sheet of paper and spend the period writing about your own lives. Write about whatever you want, but you must turn it in at the end of the period. Any questions?"

When he was met with silence, he sat back in his desk chair and silently watched his students. Some of them, like Holden, stared at the paper and wrote very slowly what they wanted to say. Others, like Emily, wrote furiously, pouring their energy into their words. He was surprised that Spencer wasn't among these students. He looked to where she was in the corner desk. She wrote carefully and concisely. She was being thoughtful. Mona and Hanna scribbled something on their papers at the end of the period, so they would have something to turn in. When the bell rang, his students exited the classroom, placing their notebook papers on his desk as they did so.

Ezra read the essays during his free period. He was surprised to see that Hanna's half-page of writing contained some particularly insightful thoughts, among them was statement that said: G_rowing up is easy. It's accepting change that's the hard part. _

He saved Aria's essay for last, so that he could enjoy what she had to say without worrying about the other students' papers. He read:

_I don't know what to write. There are some things that cannot be expressed in complete thoughts, in words. There are other things that only words can give meaning to. I have always thought that words had infinite power, and I think, to an extent, I am right. I understand now how right I was, but I also understand how naïve I was to think those things. Words have the ability to express abstract sentiments like love. It easy to tell someone "I love you." However, although those words can be said, can be expressed, you can never really tell another person what it is like to feel those feelings and to have those emotions. They are unique to an individual. This is my dilemma. I can say I love you, but those words are empty if the other person does not truly understand how I feel. The bell is going to ring soon, and I don't want to leave this incomplete, so I'll end with this: Words are inadequate to express my emotions, but still I will write things like I love you because there is no other way to tell you how I feel. _

Ezra breathed in sharply and set the page down on his desk. He stared at it intently, worried that it would bite him. He sat there for five minutes, ten minutes. Time seemed irrelevant. So, he knew how she felt. How did he feel?

The next day, January 16, he saw Aria sitting by her bedroom window. He knew that she was watching him, and he knew that she knew that he was watching him back. He let the curtain fall into place over his window, shutting out her view of his home. He soundlessly walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. He sat on his bed and looked around the room.

She had been in here once. She had touched the quilt and looked at the figurine. She seemed to like the color of the walls. She hadn't looked into his bathroom or rifled through his drawers. He supposed she didn't need to. She already knew who he was and what he blamed himself for. What would the room look like if she put her clothes in the drawers and her warmth on her side of the bed?

He couldn't picture it just yet. Reluctantly, Ezra got up from his perch and made his way to the attic. It was cold and slightly damp. He shivered. He had cleaned up some of it the last year. He had found old photos and letters, and other things that he hadn't wanted to rifle through.

Carefully stepping over pieces of wood and old furniture, Ezra made his way to the far corner and grabbed a small trunk, heaving it as he carried it down the stairs. He put the dusty box in his room and rifled through it. He knew exactly what he was looking for. He searched through the leather journals until he found one with an entry dated September 6, 2005, and he focused his vision on the cursive words.

_The Montgomery girl, Aria, came over here today. She asked if she could use the tree house to play in. Anne was so excited to see her that she gave her cookies and milk. The girl seemed happy enough. She's only ten. I remember when Diane was that old. There was nothing she enjoyed more than playing outside with her friends. I remember when she came home and announced she could ride a bike. She was so proud of herself. I thought Ezra might turn out the same way, but maybe boys are different from girls. Regardless, I don't think he visited when he was ten. His dad always had him at some kind of school or summer camp. He seems more bookish than Diane was. I bet he gets it from me. _

_ He's nineteen now, a college man. I hope he does something good with his life, something wonderful. Maybe he'll marry a nice girl and give us great-grandchildren. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. I remember when my father first saw Diane, he was so careful with her. I think he was afraid he would break her. He was so sad when she died. We weren't sure who was going to go first. In the end, she beat him by two months. I know she was waiting for him by those pearly gates. _

_ Sometimes it's good to remember the past. I think that writing it down preserves it for the future. The Montgomery girl, I've got a feeling about her, and my feelings are never wrong. It's the same kind of feeling I got about Anne in 1954. I think she's going to be a big part of our future. _

Ezra looked up from the page and stared at the blank wall. Then, he deliberately dumped all the journals on the floor and started rifling through them until he found the one labeled 1954. It had been the year after his grandfather had come back from Korea, and he had returned home to Rosewood, PA. Ezra read the entire journal until he found the entry he was looking for. It was labeled August 2.

_I saw her down at the grocery store. She was wearing a pink dress and helping her mother with the shopping. She smiled at me. Jonathan told me her name was Anne. That's the girl I'm going to marry. I have a feeling. _

The entry was short and concise, and Ezra felt a lump forming at the back of his throat. He spent the rest of the day writing down his own thoughts about life, about love, and what they meant in relation to Aria.

On January 20, Aria returned home from Ezra's house. She looked flushed and excited, and when her mother questioned her about it, she that it was nothing more than good news Emily had texted her.

"He said he loves me!" she wrote. A smile was permanently fixed on her face for the rest of the day. At dinner that night, Ella gave her husband a knowing look, one that he refused to acknowledge.

The week passed swiftly and Aria and Ezra settled into what would become their routine for the rest of the semester. They had class together. She popped in once or twice between periods. On Wednesdays Ezra would come over for dinner. He wouldn't exactly ignore her, but he wouldn't pay undue attention to her in front of her parents. On Fridays she would sneak over to his house and they would order in and they would watch a movie. Aria spent Saturdays with her friends and he would spend it with his writing. Sundays were for sleeping, and occasionally Aria would deliberately bump into him around town. They would use it as an excuse to grab coffee or browse together in the book store.

January turned into February, and February melted into March. The days raced on ahead towards summer and Aria felt that nothing could ruin her perfectly orchestrated life. Until March 12, the first day of Spring Break, when her mother walked into her room and said, "We need to talk."


	15. March 12, 2012

**I totally didn't see this going where it went. Enjoy! **

* * *

Aria looked up from her reading and stared at her mother. She didn't seem angry or upset. She didn't seem happy or pleased either. Ella sat in her daughter's desk chair and looked at Aria.

"We need to talk," she repeated.

"Okay," said Aria slowly putting her book, she was rereading _The Dead, _down beside her. "What's up?"

"I don't know how to tell you this," Ella took a deep breath and let it out, "There have been rumors and school about Ezra and a student." She paused. "Do you know anything about them?"

Aria was suddenly angry, "If it those things Noel Khan tried to spread around at school," she shook her head. "Is it those things?"

Ella shook her head and said softly, "I've noticed things too, Aria." Aria looked at her mother sharply. "You've been happy lately," Ella continued softly, "happier than I've seen you in a long time, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful."

"I am happy," Aria told her mother softly. Ella reached out to squeeze her daughter's hand.

"Sometimes society doesn't always think what we want is okay to have." Aria remained silent, unsure what she should divulge to her mother, unsure of what to keep to herself. "But sometimes society is wrong," Ella continued. "Do you know how Ezra's parents met?" Aria shook her head. Ella got up from the chair and joined Aria on the bed. Aria snuggled close to her mother and listened to the story she was about to tell.

"I met David once a long time ago when Ezra was just a child. Your father and I had just moved into this house. I think it was the only time I ever saw David Fitz at the Springer's. His wife had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. He looked so sad and forlorn. You could tell by just looking at him that something was wrong. But Diane, she seemed on top of the world. You would never have known she was sick. I think she was doing it for her parents and for Ezra, so they would have at least one last memory of her healthy and whole."

Aria sighed and Ella continued, "I was working on the garden one afternoon and David came up to the fence and started talking to me about plants. But he broke down after a few minutes. He started telling me the story behind how he and Diane met, and I didn't know what to say to him so I just listened. Diane had gone to California for college. She hadn't wanted to leave her parents behind, but she ended up doing it anyway. A part of her needed to explore the world. She was at school when she met David. They married shortly after they graduated. Diane had Ezra when she was twenty-five. She died before her thirty-third birthday."

Ella took a deep breath before she finished the story, "David started breaking down. I had never seen a grown man cry before. He said that he hadn't been a student at the university. He had been a professor. His entire family had been against the marriage and so had the faculty at the school. But he married her anyway. When she got sick, he felt like he was being punished."

Ella started to stroke Aria's hair. "I don't think I had ever seen anyone so heartbroken, so utterly lost. He felt guilty for everything he had put Diane through, everything he had put her parents through, and everything that Ezra was about to go through. He was going to grow up without a mother." Ella sighed and finished, "I think you should ask Ezra why he moved to Rosewood."

"It's because the Springers died," answered Aria.

Ella shook her head, "No, sweetie, it's more than that." Aria looked out her window at Ezra's house. The curtains were closed. She wasn't surprised. He kept them closed out of habit lately. She looked back up at her mother.

"What happened?" demanded Aria softly.

Ella got up and gave her daughter a long hug before looking at her. "That's not for me to answer." Ella turned and left the room.

Aria sat on her bed for what seemed like hours before she put her shoes on and walked over to Ezra's. She rang the doorbell impatiently, and when he answered she could only ask "What happened?"

He gave her a puzzled look before pulling her inside his house. "What do you mean what happened?"

She stared at him eye to eye, a feat considering she was more than a foot shorter than he was. "What happened? In 2007? Why did you move here?"

"Aria, calm down," he soothed her. He rubbed her arms. She moved away from him.

"What happened?" she repeated.

Ezra sighed. "What did your mother tell you?"

"How did you know it was her?"

"She's the only person I confided into." Ezra rubbed his face with his hand. "What did she tell you?"

Aria's voice softened slightly. "She told me how your parents met. How your mother died. Why you grew up in California. She didn't tell me why you moved here," Aria finished pointedly.

"Sit down, please," he pleaded. She stiffly complied, and he sat next to her. "My mom died when I was seven. I remember standing at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There was nothing more the doctors could do. She had wasted away until she was almost nothing. I think she held on as long as she did for my sake. I spent the rest of my childhood being shipped from boarding school to boarding school. My father threw himself into his work and he didn't have time for a child. Sometimes he sent me here, but not often enough for my grandparents taste."

Ezra paused and he continued. "I reminded him of her. It hurt too much. It was easier to send me away than to deal with me. And my grandparents, they reminded me of her too. It was easier to ignore the fact that they existed because it hurt too much to acknowledge otherwise. I know you blame me for leaving them here alone, but I was afraid that one day they would wake up and look at me the way my father looked at me."

Ezra swallowed. "I was a senior in college when I found the pile of letters she left me. They were the kind of letters that someone who knows they're dying writes. There letters for every birthday she would miss until I turned eighteen. They were letters for my wedding day, the day my first child was born, the day I graduated from college, and other letters that I'm not supposed to open yet.

"I was so angry at my father. He had kept her from me, and I decided that I would come back here to try to get to know her. The only thing that was standing between me and Rosewood was graduation. But Grandma and Grandpa were in that accident a week before graduation. I decided to move here. I would get to know all three of them by myself. I cut my father from my life almost completely. He had to beg me to come home for Thanksgiving that first year. I had never heard him beg before. He died in 2009."

"A heart attack," whispered Aria. Ezra shook his head.

"I think his broken heart finally caught up with him. The only family I had left in the world was gone." Suddenly Ezra laughed harshly. "He lived a whole month after his brother died. His family had cut him off after he married my mother. They were very wealthy and affluent, but eventually my dad was the only family left. He inherited everything, and then he died, and I got it all. Jackie wasn't the only reason I stayed in California so long that summer."

During his explanation Aria had begun to soften until now when she had heard the last bit of the puzzle, "Fitz," she said softly, "Fitzgerald. Your father was a Fitzgerald?"

He nodded shamefully. "Guilty."

"Your family doesn't have money, your family has _money_." She stopped to think for a minute. "Now?"

"Some obscure cousin inherited the family business. I only received money, a few houses, some property, things like that."

"What are you doing then, teaching high school?" she asked.

"Doing what I love," he answered. "I love teaching high school. I love reading and exploring."

"You should have told me all of this that day in the tree house," she stated.

"Aria," he sighed. "I told you the most important part. I told you that I wanted a family more than anything else, that as much as I wished it, your family wasn't my family. That I spent the year you were gone looking for something. I was lost."

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"While you guys were in Iceland, I didn't find what I wanted. It was only after you came back that I found what I was looking for."

She swallowed and looked him, "Why did you make it so hard for us? It shouldn't have been that complicated."

"But it is, Aria," he answered smoothly. "You're my student, and you're seventeen years old. I don't want you to shoulder the burden of my past."

"Why shouldn't I?" she shot back. "I've burdened you with mine."

He hesitated. "Maybe I was scared," he admitted.

"Do you remember that assignment you gave in January, the one where you told us to write about growing up?" He raised an eyebrow and nodded. "It was the first time I told you I love you. Do you remember Hanna's paper, or Emily's or Spencer's?"

"Vaguely," Ezra responded.

"Hanna is dealing with her stepmother and stepsister and the fact that she feels replaced by her father. Growing up to her has meant accepting abandonment, about knowing that the people who should love you won't always be there when you need them. Spencer, her sister had just married a man who made out with her while she was a freshman. And she had fallen for Wren, the fiancé her sister brought home. Growing up for her means trying to puzzle out the grey area in life. And Emily," continued Aria breathlessly. "She had just told her parents she was gay, and they weren't looking at her the same way. For her, growing up means accepting who you are even when others don't." Aria looked back up at Ezra, "I think growing up for you has meant accepting that life can be sad. It can be wonderful too, but it also full of heartbreak and back decisions. Everyone regrets the past, you just regret it more than other people."

She took her hands in his. "Don't regret us."

"I love you," he said, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I love you too," she responded. They sat and talked for another hour, each sharing their deepest feelings and emotions. He went to dinner at her house that night, and if her parents caught them holding hands as they entered the front door, they remained silent on the matter. Ella fussed over Ezra like he was her long lost son, and Byron involved him in a conversation about March Madness. Mike took the hint and acted as if nothing out the ordinary were happening.

Ezra came up to Aria's room that night before he went home. He found her laying on her bed, reading.

"Thank you," he said from the doorway.

"For what?" she asked, smiling as she looked at him.

"For looking at me the same way as you did yesterday." He walked into her room and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course," she answered and watched him as he walked out the door.

Before she went to bed that night, she wrote an entry for March 12, 2012.

_ It's the people that you thought you knew that you find you really don't know in the first place. There is pain and suffering and hurt in this world, but there is also happiness and hope and faith. There is a goodness in people that cannot be taught and cannot be learned. But there is also a brokenness that can only be born out of anguish. There are regrets bred out of misunderstanding. There are sorrows created out of regret. We cannot unbreak what has already been broken. We can only hope to heal the rift, so ease human heartache. _

_ Ezra was not the person I thought he was. But maybe I'm not the person he thought I was either. He was always so patient with me, and so understanding. But I was the one that misunderstood him. His heart is as good as ever, but I think he's afraid of making the same mistakes that his father made. The story of his parents is eerily similar to ours. He pushes me away because of what society thinks and feels, but I think he really does it because he doesn't want to cause hurt in anybody else's life. _

_ Growing up means change. It means adapting. This might not be the life I pictured for myself, but so be it. It is the life I choose for myself. I choose to be with Ezra whatever complications or unexpected news arrives. I love him. _

From that day on, Aria Montgomery realized that the love she had for Ezra Fitz was not the girly love of first romance or the love between friends. It wasn't even the kind of love that made her want to pounce on him all the time. It was the kind of love that started out as all three and slowly and quietly evolved into an enduring love that was constant and unshakeable.


	16. March 2012

**FYI I'm kind of just going with the flow as I write this. I started knowing how I wanted to begin and how I wanted to end but knew absolutely nothing about what was going to happen in the middle. Should I follow the show more closely? Should I write more of my own ideas? You tell me! :)**

* * *

Ezra was startled when he heard a knock at the door. Most people who came to visit him, which usually consisted of Aria or Hardy, tended to knock. It was March 15, the Wednesday of Spring Break. He got up from his perch on the sofa and answered the door.

"Byron," he greeted politely. "Come in. Can I get you anything…water? ...beer?"

"No thank you," said Byron stepping into the foyer and walking towards the living room as Ezra followed. "Do you know why I'm here?" asked Byron as he sat on the sofa.

Ezra, who was sitting across from him in the easy chair, answered, "I have an idea."

"I've known you a long time," Byron sighed. "And you've been there for her in a way her parents could not have."

"Byron, I…" Ezra started.

Byron held up his hand, "Let me finish. I know that some teacher student relationships can be hard to navigate. That it can lead to some tricky situations. But that doesn't mean that I'm okay with this."

"Byron," Ezra started, "I understand where you're coming from, but she's always been more than just my student. She's been the girl next door for years."

"Maybe," Bryon inclined his head. "But that's not how the rest of the world sees it. She's not even eighteen," he stated.

"But she's been through more than some people experience in a lifetime," responded Ezra.

"Perhaps, but she has also experienced less than you have. Nine years stand between you and her."

Ezra nodded, "Is it my age that bothers you or that fact that I'm her teacher?"

Byron rubbed his face with his hands before answering, "The teacher thing really hits a chord, but if she were eighteen then I wouldn't feel so," he moved his hands expressively, "so worried about everything." He looked around the room as Ezra answered.

"I've only said I love you to three women in my life: my mother, my grandmother, and her." He paused. "I've lived long enough to know what I want."

Byron got up and started to walk around the room, looking at pictures on the wall and touching some of the knick-knacks on the shelves. "Ella's told me some things about your past," he started. "And I've guessed others. Would you be willing to wait to get what you wanted? I mean really wait? What if didn't have a child until you were forty? What if you had to wait for her to come back to you until after she spent years at school?" Byron retraced his steps and sat back on the sofa. "Do you know that she's already looking at colleges in New York?" Byron saw Ezra's face change slightly at this news and realized that he hadn't known.

"I love her," he said softly. "I understand where you're coming from, but I love her."

"You've known her for years," said Byron. "And I know that change can come swiftly. And I know you can give her all the worldly things she desires, but life is more than that." Byron paused and then continued, "Are you willing to go through everything your father did so you could have her?" When Ezra didn't answer, Byron got up and walked towards the front door. "Think about it," he called over his shoulder.

Ezra couldn't remember how long he sat in the living room. Long enough to let the sting of Byron's words bother him, but also long enough to realize that there was truth to what he said. Calmly and collectedly he walked up towards his bedroom and opened one of the dresser drawers. He threw things into his suitcase and called Hardy, asking his friend to drop him off at the airport. Within an hour he was gone.

At dinner that night, Byron told his daughter that Ezra had left for a little while. He watched the emotions flitter across her face, the sadness, the anger, the frustration, the hurt. She asked to be excused from dinner and walked up to her bedroom silently.

Ella looked at Byron across the table, Byron refused to look back. Mike, who had been staring at his lasagna, looked at both his parents. "She really loves him, you know," he stated calmly before following his sister's example and heading up to his room.

That night Aria wrote in her journal, "I thought we were past this."

On Monday, March 20, Aria talked to her friends during lunch. "We have a substitute for English again."

"Yeah," answered Spencer, "I just love having busy work when teachers are absent." She was picking at her food.

"What's wrong with you, Spence?" asked Hanna. She was attacking her meal with vigor.

"Something doesn't feel right about Ian," said Spencer. "It's just I feel shivers every time he walks into the room. And Melissa's pregnant, and she's excited about it. That's not my sister."

"What about him that's bothering you?" asked Emily.

"I saw him the other day looking at Ali's picture," Spencer shuddered. "It was creepy."

On Friday, March 24, Aria was at Hanna's house, helping her pick out an outfit. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"On a date," answered Hanna. She pulled a top out of her closet, "What do you think of this?"

"I like it," replied Aria. "Wear it with the white pants." She watched as Hanna rummaged through her closet for shoes. "Who are going with?"

"I'm going on this double date thing with Lucas and some girl from the yearbook and Caleb."

Aria sat up on Hanna's bed. "Caleb Rivers? I thought you couldn't stand him."

Hanna came out from the back of her closet holding up a pair of red heels. "These?" she asked, holding them up.

"Perfect. But what happened with Caleb?"

Hanna opened her jewelry box and began looking through it. "I changed my mind."

"You don't just change your mind," answered Aria. "What happened?"

Hanna shrugged and put on a pair of gold hoop earrings, "I don't know. He just turned out not to be the person I thought he was."

"Well," said Aria, lying back down on the bed, "Anyone who has the good sense to dislike Noel Khan is a guy I approve of."

"What happened to Fitz?" asked Hanna.

"You can call him Ezra, you know," sighed Aria. "I don't know. He just got up one day and disappeared."

"Did anything happen between you two?" asked Hanna rubbing lotion on her arms.

"I learned some things about his past. Not bad things but some really sad stuff."

"Anything else?"

"No. I know he's been touchy about our being together because I'm his student and the age difference, but if he really loved me that wouldn't matter."

"Maybe it doesn't matter," answered Hanna. She got up from her vanity to sit beside Aria. "Maybe it's something else."

"What else could it be?"

"Who else knew him before he moved to Rosewood?"

Realization dawned in Aria's eyes. She shut them. "Not her. I can't stand her."

Hanna shrugged and hopped off the bed. "She's probably the only one who has an idea of what's going on." Aria groaned.

On Monday, March 27, Aria tentatively knocked on a wooden door. "Come in," a voice called from the other side. Aria braced herself before crossing the threshold.

"Hi," she said brightly, plastering a smile on her face. The woman looked up from where she was working on the other side of her desk.

"Your Professor Montgomery's daughter, right?" she asked. "Aria?"

"Hi, Jackie," she greeted walking over to sit on one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Is there something I can help you with?" asked Jackie pointedly.

"Umm, I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to ask." Aria leaned forward. "Ezra's been gone for a while now, and I was wondering if you know where he was?"

Jackie looked her over before answering, "I haven't talked to him in months."

"But maybe you know something about his past, something that could explain why he felt the need to disappear?" Aria pleaded.

Jackie dropped her pen onto her desk and leaned back in her chair. "You're taking a great deal of interest in Ezra's past for someone who's only his neighbor." She looked Aria in the eye. "And you've certainly grown up."

Aria swallowed. "I'm just worried about him. We've been friends a long time."

"I see." Jackie turned back to her papers, "He never told me much about his family, even when we were engaged." When she heard Aria's sharp intake of breath, she looked back up. "Oh, I didn't realize you didn't know." She paused, "Good day, Aria," she said firmly.

Silently Aria grabbed her purse and walked out the door. She wrote in her journal, "I thought he had told me everything."

Ezra was back in class March 28, and Aria avoided him. She avoided him the next day and the day after that. On March 31, he was finally forced to ask her to stay after class.

"You know the essay I turned in was good," she started abruptly standing in front of his desk.

He sighed, "You've been avoiding me."

She was silent for a moment, and Ezra knew her well enough to brace himself, "How could you do that? How could you just leave like that without saying anything? I was so worried I tracked Jackie down at Hollis." She shook her head, "Apparently your last name wasn't the only detail you hadn't given me."

"What did she tell you?" Aria heard his tone of voice change, and she barely recognized the emotion he was conveying. It was anger.

"When were you going to tell me that you had been engaged?" she shot back.

"It was a long time ago. We were in college."

"What about now?"

He took a deep breath before asking, "What do you mean?"

"Is there anything else you aren't telling me? I'm a big girl, Ezra. I promise I can take it."

"You should be able to do whatever you want."

She snorted. "Excuse me?"

"You should be able to go to college in New York and spend time with your friends and not worry about what anybody else thinks."

"I looked at one college in New York. I thought we could move there together."

He shook his head, "That's not the way it works. You can't pack up your high school English teacher and bring him with you."

"Why can't it if we want it too?" she asked back. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice, "When you're ready to tell me everything, and I mean everything. You know where to find me." She walked out of the room, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. He watched as she left, and saw that Hanna, Emily, and Spencer had been watching them through the glass of the closed door.


	17. January 2007-April 2012

**Thanks for the encouragement! What are the odds I can get to 200 reviews? I decided to put my own spin on things. I hope you like it.**

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_January 28, 2007 _

_I used to think the kind of life I lived was normal. People sent their kids to boarding, and kids ignored their parents. Friends tended to mean a lot more than family. Ian Summers was like a brother to me. He meant more to me than my own dad. I cried when I was transferred to another school across the country. I didn't understand what a real family was. A family with a mother and a father and a brother and a sister. I don't know if I can ever forgive him for taking that away from me. _

_ Is it such a terrible thing that I hate my father? He kept her from me all those years. All those old photos were stashed in boxes. All those letters he never gave me. I can barely remember what she looks like. My dad says I look like her. I can't picture her well enough to know if he's telling the truth. I guess I should know by now that he doesn't respect me enough to tell me the truth anyway, so why should it matter?_

_ I know he still loves her. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at me. But maybe it's not about love anymore. Maybe it's about the kind of heartache that drives people to forget the past. But he wants to forget and still hold onto her. You can't have both at the same time. _

_February 2, 2007_

_I talked the Dean today. Ten more weeks and I'm done with school for good. I can't wait to get out of here. It's felt suffocating ever since I learned the truth. I spent all of yesterday reading the letters I should have opened years ago. She wrote that she loves me. I want to believe that she did. _

_March 27, 2007_

_It's been sixty days since I've talked to my dad. I've started thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to get to know the family I have left. I'm going to Pennsylvania after graduation. It's the only way, I think, to make up for lost time. I can't give my grandparents all the years they missed, but maybe I can share the years that are coming with them. _

_ What would she have wanted me to do with my life? I think she would have liked for me to do good in the world. I think she would have wanted me to be happy. The problem is I don't know what happiness means anymore. Does happiness mean the same thing for all people? Or is it unique to each individual?_

_ April 16, 2007_

_ I just got the call from my dad. He said my grandparents died. It's the first conversation we've had in months. The only link I had to her was gone. How am I supposed to find her now? What am I supposed to do?_

_ April 25, 2007_

_ I didn't make it to their funeral, but I'm sure it was a beautiful service. All funerals are supposed to be, aren't they? I don't think I could have taken it, looking at family lying there in a box. I was told they left me their house. Is that what I should do? That house is the only thing I have left of them. I remember the tree house Grandpa built me in the back yard. I used to have fun there. Maybe that's a sign. Maybe there's something waiting for me there besides death. _

_ Dad's the only family I have left. What am I going to do when he leaves me? Not that he was ever there much in the first place. I'm still so angry at him for everything he did to me. I think I'm letting my anger cloud my ability to forgive, but I don't care right now. _

_May 12, 2007 _

_ Today was graduation. My dad couldn't even be bothered to show up. I leave for Rosewood tomorrow. I have an interview teaching high school English. I'm not sure it's what I want to do with my life, but it's a job. I guess if I get it, it was meant to be. _

_ May 14, 2007_

_ I got the job. I decided to drive past the house just to see what it looked like. It was all boarded up and sad-looking. The house next door to it seems nice though. I saw a girl reading on her front porch. She waved at me. Maybe it's a sign. I hope so. I think I'm going to like it here. I just don't know how long I plan to stay. _

_ July 24, 2007_

_ I spent the day unpacking. Mrs. Montgomery came by and gave me a plate of cookies. I could tell they were homemade. She was a nice woman and she had that aura that mothers have. It made me a little sad just looking at her. It turns out she's going to be a colleague at Rosewood High. I get the feeling that Grandma and Grandpa are looking out for me. _

_ July 25, 2007 _

_ The girl from next door, Aria, came by. She wanted to read in the tree house. I hope she uses it often. I feel guilty that it's sitting there in the backyard idle. She was reading _To Kill a Mockingbird_. That's such a big book for such a small girl. I wonder if she'll like reading _Of Mice and Men_. _

_ August 20, 2007 _

_ Today was my first day as a teacher. It was terrible. I spilled coffee on myself before the end of first period. I was aware of how young I am. I'm only a few years older than most of the students. I feel ages older. The day seemed to go well though. I think I'm really going to like teaching. And living next door to the Montgomery's. _

_ July 15, 2009_

_ My dad had a heart attack. A part of me knew this was coming. Another part me can't believe it actually happened. I'm sitting here on the plane to California, and I feel like I'm dreaming. I guess that broken heart finally caught up with him. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. _

_ At least he's with my mom now. Maybe he's finally happy. I'm an orphan now. Ella would be yelling at me if she knew I had written that. She considers herself my family. I'm like another son to her. She makes me feel warm and soft inside. Is that how mothers are supposed to make you feel? I hope that if my mother had lived she would have been like Ella. _

_ July 18, 2009 _

_ Jackie showed up at the funeral today. I hadn't seen her in years. She looked good. She told me that she had gotten a job at Hollis. I could hardly believe it. I could tell she wanted to be a part of my life again. But she hurt me so badly the last time, I don't know if my heart could take it. She's the one who broke up with me after we had been engaged. _

_ My father's death puts a new spin on things. I never really forgave him or gave him a second chance after I found out about Mom's letters. Maybe I should have. It's too late now. But I think it's time to make things up with her. _

_ July 19, 2009 _

_ Dad's lawyer came to talk to me today. He said that I had inherited Dad's estate. I always knew my family truncated Fitzgerald to Fitz, but that branch of the family was never really acknowledged. Turns out I'm the heir to the majority of the Fitzgerald fortune. Thanks, Dad, for keeping that a secret from me. What am I supposed to do with my life now? _

_August 16, 2009 _

_Aria came over this morning. She caught me off guard. She was surprised to see Jackie. She was hurt too, but I don't know why. She had pink streaks in her hair. Why did she ruin it? It was so beautiful before she changed it. I guess it's her way of saying she's growing up. She starts high school in a few days. Have I really been in Rosewood that long? _

_I decided that I'm going to keep my life the way it is. I like teaching at Rosewood High, and I like living in the house I live in. Life is going to stay the same. I'll just have a financial advisor now. Maybe I'll surprise Hardy with box tickets to the World Series. He would like that. It's right up his alley. Maybe I'll buy myself a couple of first editions while I'm at it. _

_ March 11, 2010 _

_ Something's wrong with Aria. I can't quite put my finger on it. She's been unusually quiet lately. I gave her a new book, something to take her mind off things. Something's happening over at the Montgomery house although Mike seems to be doing fine. _

_ July 6, 2010_

_ The Montgomery's left for Iceland today. Of all the places they could go, why did they choose the top of the world? It's going to be lonely this year. The only people I consider family are gone. Writing isn't helping, and neither is Jackie. She doesn't seem to get it. Maybe it's time I start doing what I came here to do—to find myself. _

_ August 22, 2011_

_ Holy Crap! What am I doing? It's Aria. You've known since she was twelve. No, that's not the Aria I used to know. This is different Aria, grown up Aria. This is world-traveler Aria. I would never have imagined that she could kiss like that. She's obviously not a child anymore. She doesn't expect me to see her like one either. _

_ What am I supposed to do? She's my student now, and I couldn't bear the thought of Byron and Ella thinking the worst of me because I'm into their teenage daughter. I'm twenty-six years old. What's wrong with me? I don't want to hurt her. _

_ August 25, 2011_

_ They found the DiLaurentis' girl's body today. Do I bring death with me wherever I go? The police ruled it as an accident. She fell and bumped her head on a rock and was accidently buried alive. It seems questionable to me, but it's not my call to make. The whole town seems like it's in mourning. Aria's been looking especially hurt and sad lately. I know what she wants. I just don't know if I'm the kind of person who can give it to her. She doesn't deserve this much baggage. Plus, I'm her teacher. That's a complication she doesn't need in her life right now. What is this feeling I have in the bottom of gut supposed to mean?_

_ August 27, 2011_

_ I couldn't stay away from her. I just can't. _

_ September 12, 2011 _

_ She's angry at me. She blames me for staying away from my grandparents. I let her yell at me. I let her walk out. Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe I should have told her everything. But then she would know what a mess I was. She would see how the layers of hurt go deeper than she ever thought possible. I got angry with her. I called her a child. I just didn't want to let her see how deep her words cut. _

_ September 16, 2011_

_ Today I learned that people are frailer than I thought possible, that families are bound together by thin and invisible threads that are easier to snap than I ever realized. I told her part of my story. I wasn't ready to tell her all of it. Not yet. It is enough for now that Ella knows. I held Aria in my arms and kissed her. I want to hold on tight and never let her go. _

_ September 27, 2011_

_ I let her go. I'm afraid what will happen if people find out that she's seeing her teacher. She doesn't need to go through that. Hardy noticed, and other people won't be as forgiving. I want to spare her from everything my mom went through. I wonder if she hadn't fallen in love with her professor, if life would have been easier for her. _

_ November 25, 2011 _

_ Noel Khan knows about me and Aria. I don't know what I'm going to do. Resign? I don't have to work, but he could still hurt her whether I'm there or not. I can't change his grade. I just can't. I can't lose what respect I have for myself as a teacher. I would hate myself if I did it. Aria would hate me. _

_January 16, 2012_

_ I finally read my grandfather's journals today. He talked about Aria. He wrote about Grandma. They really loved each other. I miss him so much. He's the one who convinced Aria to start writing a journal. She doesn't know that he's the one who encouraged me to tell stories. It's the one clear memory I have of him before Mom died. I guess the habit of journal-writing just kind of stuck. He said that Aria was going to be part of the future. Maybe that feeling he had meant my future. _

_ March 19, 2012 _

_ I ran away. I guess it's what I do best. I went to Mom's grave. Dad's buried next to her. I told Aria almost everything and she didn't run away. She's a better person than I am. Byron is not happy about us. He's dealing with his own inner demons. I think he's afraid that the sins of the father will be his daughter's legacy. But he's right. I shouldn't be chaining her down. If I really loved her, I would set her free. Do I have the strength to do it?_

_ April 1, 2012_

_ Aria knows everything now. She knows about Jackie. She knows about the past. She knows how I ended up in Rosewood. I can't keep anything from her anymore. I love her too much. I can't bear the thought that I'm hurting her. _

_ She's only seventeen years old. She deserves to have fun with her friends, to worry about things like college and prom dates. She wouldn't have to agonize over things like death and loss. I'm willing to wait until she's ready, until we are at the same stage in life. If I have to wait to have children until I'm forty, then I'll wait. I would rather have a family with her than do anything else in the world. _

_ One day, when she's ready, I'll give her the world. I'll show her how much she means to me. She will never want for anything. But if getting to that place means letting her go now, then I'll wait for forever. Maybe what I want isn't normal. But what is normal but our own beliefs about how the world should be?_

Spencer looked across the room to where her friend sat cross-legged reading on her bed. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"I am now," answered Aria as she wiped away a tear.


	18. Easter Weekend 2012

**I know this is the shortest chapter I've written so far, but I think it's appropriate. I promise this is not the end. There's still a long way to go. Thanks for reviews! I do not own PLL. **

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On Good Friday Aria knocked on Ezra's door. He answered and let her in. "I read all your journal entries," she blurted.

Ezra leaned against the door frame. "You were meant to."

"What happens now?" she asked. He grabbed both hands in hers.

"We wait," he responded.

"Wait?" she echoed. She sat down on the sofa and he followed suit. "Is it because you're my teacher?"

"Partly," he answered, "but neither of us is ready to be in such a serious relationship right now."

"I love you," she whispered.

"I know," he caressed her cheek and sighed, "I'm resigning from Rosewood High at the end of the year."

"But you love teaching."

"It's time for me to write my book." He leaned back and she rested her back against his chest. They sat there silently for a while.

"When will we be ready?" she asked him as he rubbed her arm.

"When we don't have to ask that question anymore."

"And in the meantime?"

"I'll be the guy next door." He began to caress her hair.

"We can still hang out though, right?"

He kissed her forehead. "Of course."

"No making out?" she asked wistfully.

He sighed. "Sex isn't something we've really talked about before."

"Who's talking about sex?" Aria asked lightly. Her tone grew more serious. "No we haven't." She paused. "I am the age of consent. Past the age of consent."

"We're not in that place yet, and you know it." He was slightly forceful about it.

"Is it because I'm a virgin?" She asked innocently, but Ezra knew better. It took him a moment to form words.

"Umm," he half laughed half sighed, "I still am your teacher, and I think your dad would skin me alive. And yes, a lot of it is because you're a virgin. You're first time should be meaningful, special."

"We wait?"

"We wait," he confirmed. She leaned up and kissed him full on the mouth. Suddenly, she was straddling him. "This isn't a good idea," he ground out.

"One last time?" She raised an eyebrow as she unzipped her shirt throwing it on the floor. Underneath was a lacy black undershirt. He groaned and nodded as she came near him.

"One more time," he affirmed. Before he knew it she was on top of him and they were having a heated make out session on the couch.

The night of Easter Sunday, Ella and Byron were in their bedroom getting ready to go to sleep. "You okay?" called Ella from the bathroom.

"Yes," answered Byron.

She came out of the bathroom. "That wasn't very convincing."

"You're not worried about this whole Aria/Ezra thing?"

"I take you are?" She leaned against the doorframe.

"A little," he admitted.

"They're going to wait," she answered, "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes ,but…"

Ella walked over to him and rubbed his shoulders, "If you start doing that you're going to drive yourself crazy."

He sighed, "I know."

"We raised her to be independent and open minded and we don't get to be surprised that's now who she is."

"But,"

"No buts," shushed Ella. She began to massage his neck. "It's her life, and his."

After that weekend, Aria and Ezra's relationship outwardly began to resemble the one they had before the Montgomerys had left for Iceland. They hung and out and talked about books. They watched old movies together at his house, curtains open of course. She spent a great deal of time reading in the tree house. Ezra took Mike and Aria to Philadelphia semi-regularly. Aria started to spend more time with her friends and less time at home. She became worried about college applications and acceptance letters. But there were still traces of their romantic relationship. Sometimes they still held hands underneath the table. They often cuddled together on the couch when they were watching movies. When Aria was feeling especially daring, she kissed Ezra on the cheek. The time of healing had begun.


	19. June-August 2012

**I hope this gives a little closure to some of the other storylines I had going on earlier, especially concerning Alison's death which I changed from the series to add emphasis to some other points I was trying to make. I hope this doesn't feel too rushed. Please review!**

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Aria couldn't remember what happened in the ensuing months after she and Ezra agreed to take a break. She would always be able to recall particular moments in flashes of memory, but it was her journal that kept most of these events recorded. The days seemed to go by in a blur, as if all the events in her life flew by her in colored haziness. School and home melted together, and friends became family. However, she could recall with perfect clarity the last day of her junior year of high school—June 1, 2012

The school bell rang to release students for the day, and she sat in her desk as the room cleared out. Emily gave her a knowing look as she exited the classroom. Ezra watched his students leave, walking them to the doorway, before going to sit in the desk in front of Aria.

Aria rested her elbows on the desk and leaned forward slightly, "What if it had never happened?"

"Which part?" he asked looking at her.

"All of it," she answered. She paused, "Do you wish you could go back?"

"Sometimes," he admitted. "I wish I could see my mom again. A part of me wants to go back and forgive my dad for everything."

"Us?" she asked quietly.

"No." He shook his head firmly. "Never us."

"What if you hadn't been my neighbor?"

"You mean your teacher."

"No," she repeated. "My neighbor."

He shrugged, "You would be the pretty girl who sat one row over from the windows. And I would be wondering what it is you thought every day while you sat there."

"Sometimes I wish I could go back," she admitted. "That I could go back and tell myself everything was going to be okay. That it would all work out. To have patience."

He leaned his head to the side. "We've talked about this." He sighed. "There are all kinds of love in this world, Aria. This is what we're supposed to do right now."

"I know," she responded looking into his eyes, "but sometimes it's really hard."

Ezra opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Hanna's knock on the closed door. "Your friends are waiting for you," he said instead.

She got up from the desk and grabbed her bag. "See you later?"

"Always." He watched as she exited the classroom and began to talk to her friends.

Her journal entry read "sometimes you have to go back so you can move forward."

The summer of 2012 was one the most relaxing phases in Aria's life. It was her last chance at being a kid, and she embraced it wholeheartedly. The sleepovers at Hanna's, the day trips to the Hastings' cabin, and the nights in Philadelphia reminded Aria wholeheartedly of what she had missed while she was in Iceland. She had missed just being part of the rest of the world. Although her life had grown both infinitely more complicated and substantially simpler, the same could not be said for her friends' relationships.

"Maya and I broke up," whispered Emily as her friends congregated in her bedroom. She had just run what seeme to be miles, sweat stuck to her body, and her hair was messy in its pony tail.

"Em," exclaimed Spencer. "What happened?"

Emily fell to her bed, "She couldn't be the person I needed her to be." Hours later she would tell them about the continuing drug use, the half-truths, and her running away to California. June 26, 2012 Aria wrote in her journal "Is it the same thing or is it different—people being what they are and people being who they are?"

Aria renewed her relationship with her dad the same time that Spencer and her father ceased to be on speaking terms. Although her friends asked her what they had disagreed on, Spencer would not tell them.

"Maybe Mr. Hastings had an affair," suggested Aria.

"I bet it has something to do with Melissa," chimed in Hanna.

"No, I think he lied to her about something important," guessed Emily. "But what's so important she couldn't tell her friends?"

This speculation led Aria to write her longest journal entry of the summer. On July 2, 2012 three pages of writing ended with the thought "life is too short to go through it angry and unforgiving."

Caleb and Hanna cemented their relationship, and she spent several weeks in California meeting his mother. "It was so great," she gushed. "His house is amazing and his family was so nice to me, but his story is so sad," she sobered. "Who would give up their kid in the first place? If it were my mom, I don't know if I could face her."

July 17, Aria asked the silent pages of her journal "What does it mean to want the best for your children? Are the benefits they gain worth the heartache they'll have in the process?"

July 21 was Ezra's birthday, and Ella cooked Ezra as special dinner to commemorate, and the Montgomery family sang him their original rendition of Happy Birthday. It was only when Hardy showed up to drag him to a bar that Ezra left the comfort and warmth of their home.

"He's family," said Ella as she cleaned up the dishes.

"More than that soon enough," grunted Byron as he inclined his head toward where Aria was sitting in the living room.

August 2 Spencer dragged her friends to the cabin, giving them little explanation and reason for her need to run away from the rest of the world except for some incoherent babbling about something she had found at Melissa and Ian's house. "Do you remember when we came up here with Ali?" she asked in a rush, pulling her car into park.

"Yeah," answered an annoyed Hanna, "Why?"

"I think she hid something here, something that connects to her death." They spent the night ransacking the house, looking under floorboards and furniture until Aria found something in a vent. It was a small wooden box.

"Is this what we're looking for?" she asked holding it up to Spencer.

"I think so," answered Spencer, rifling through it.

"Is this Ian?" asked Emily, holding up a photograph that had been wrinkled on the sides. There was a picture of Ian next to a tree that had his initials and Alison's carved into it.

"It totally is," exclaimed Hanna. Underneath the false bottom of the box, Spencer found a hard drive. Plugging it in to her computer, Spencer clicked on the file. It was a video of Alison and Ian dated May 27, 2010, only days before Alison had died.

"Do you think…?" breathed Aria.

"I don't know." Spencer admitted. The friends looked at each other, wondering what they should do with the knowledge they had just gained. In the end, they didn't have to do anything. Ian Thomas committed suicide three days later on August 5. He left a note explaining the circumstances of Alison's death, a declaration of his everlasting love and devotion to Alison, and an apology to Melissa for everything. He left his wife in shock and three weeks pregnant.

Aria, Emily, and Hanna went to the funeral on August 8 to support Spencer as the perfect Hastings family image crumbled down. What was even more surprising than the stoic Melissa Hastings crying in public, was the sight of Spencer as she leaned on Toby Cavanaugh's arm. "They looked cute together," gushed Hanna as she waited for the funeral to start. As the memorial ended, Aria felt, at long last, that a particular chapter of her life had been closed. Some of Alison's secrets had gone with her to the grave, and others were buried with Ian, but at least her death was one mystery solved in Rosewood.

"It was an accident," Aria told Mike. "They were meeting each other and she slipped and fell on a rock. She hit her head, and Ian panicked. He left her in the yard and her body was buried under all the dirt and construction the DiLaurentis' were doing to their house that year."

"It's creepy," Mike shuddered. "To call what twisted emotion he felt love."

"There are all sorts of love in this world," Aria shrugged, "some purer than others."

The last two weeks of summer flew by in a daze as the world said good-bye to Ian and Alison and unearthed secrets became public knowledge and open to public speculation. It was freeing, Aria thought, to have no secrets from her friends or her family. On August 23, 2012, Aria's last year as a high school student began.

* * *

**Emaya fans please don't worry. Maya comes back later in the story. **


	20. August 23, 2012

**I've been lacking the motivation to update. Sorry about that. Here it is. The story is far from over.**

* * *

"It's going to be one hell of a year," Hanna ground out, slamming her locker shut. It was August 23, 2012, the first day of their senior year of high school.

"Hey, you're not the only one with problems," Spencer shot back.

"Yeah," answered Hanna dryly. "At least yours isn't standing twenty feet away." Hanna glanced to where Kate stood by her locker talking to several guys from their grade. She sighed and leaned against the wall. "At least I don't have any classes with her."

Aria came up to them, her heels making no sound in the busy hallway of Rosewood High. "What's up guys?"

"The bitch is here to ruin my life," Hanna moaned inclining her head Kate's way.

Spencer rolled her eyes and looked at Aria, "I already told her there were worse things going on."

"Yeah, how are you holding on Spence?" asked Aria as she began to work on the combination lock for her locker on the other side of Spencer's.

"Since Melissa lost the baby, life has been," Spencer paused as she thought about the word she wanted to use, "_unpleasant _in the Hastings household."

"Are sure that's all? You've been acted kind of weird lately," said Hanna.

Spencer slammed her locker shut as she gathered books in her arms. "That's all." She turned and looked at Aria. "Where's Emily?"

"Morning swim practice," supplied Aria as she rummaged through her bag. "She convinced that extra practices will help take seconds off of her times. She's been really worried about scholarships and college and stuff."

"I think she's running away from everything with Maya," answered Spencer, "she was so messed up after all that went down."

"We're all messed up," snorted Hanna as she applied lip-gloss, looking at her compact mirror to do so. "I have to deal with that bitch of a stepmother, you, Spencer, have to deal with whatever's going on at home that you're not telling us, and you," she said looking up at Aria, "are in a relationship but not in a relationship with your neighbor slash teacher who happens to be nine years older than you."

"Hey," protested Aria and Spencer together.

"He's not my teacher anymore," said Aria.

"Whatever," answered Spencer, "I need to get to class." Aria and Hanna watched as she walked away.

"What's eating her?" asked Hanna

"Beats me," answered Aria, shrugging. Hearing the bell ring they followed Spencer into class.

It was a typical first day of school. Introductions were given homework was assigned. Mrs. Benson took over Ezra's class with unbridled enthusiasm, and Mr. Bellisario, in his signature monotone voice, conducted math class, and Mrs. Hale gave them a quick lecture on government, making it clear she wanted to be anywhere but at school. As lunch time rolled around, Hanna found Caleb in the courtyard of school. Kissing him on the cheek as a greeting, she sat on the bench next to him.

"What are you working on?" she asked, looking over to his laptop screen.

"I think I may have found my dad," he answered quietly.

"That's great," Hanna gushed, but when Caleb remained silent she added, "It is great isn't it?"

"I'm not sure yet," he answered closing his computer with a click. He wrapped his arm around her. "I'm fine," he said, answering her unspoken question.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he responded kissing her on the forehead. Just then, Aria walked by them texting away on her cell phone. She didn't notice them sitting there and she looked straight ahead, distracted.

"She has it so easy," said Hanna absently.

Caleb looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "What makes you say that?"

Hanna leaned in to him closer and looked up, "How many people meet their soul mates when they're twelve?"

"I don't think that necessarily makes her life easy," said Caleb easily, "her life might be harder than you give her credit for."

"Well at least her parents didn't get divorced and she doesn't have to deal with a bitch of a stepsister."

"Hanna," Caleb warned softly, he looked to where Kate stood on the other side of the courtyard.

Hanna shrugged, "She's going to make my life miserable. Just wait and see," she promised.

Caleb sighed. "It's going to be an interesting school year, isn't it?"

"Definitely," answered Hanna. She seemed less than happy.

After school, Aria drove home, her mother was going to be at a faculty meeting for the rest of the afternoon and Mike had lacrosse practice. She parked in her driveway, but instead of going into her house, she crossed the yard and went into Ezra's. After knocking the door tentatively she walked in. Setting her bag by the front door she walked to Ezra's study. The door was open and his back was to her.

Making sure that he could hear her as her heels clicked against the hardwood floors she leaned over him and peered to see what he was writing. Scowling, he grabbed the paper and held it as far away from her as he possibly could, "Sheesh, Aria, haven't I told you not to do that?"

Aria shrugged and sat on the clean spot on his desk, "Maybe once or twice," she answered dryly.

"You get to read it with everybody else," said Ezra, filing the papers into his desk drawer.

"Why?" whined Aria.

"Because," answered Ezra simply, his face relaxing. "How was school?"

"It was school," she answered. "Kate, Hanna's stepsister, is going there now."

"Anything else happening? I kind of miss that first day feeling when everyone comes back from summer vacation."

"I missed you," answered Aria simply.

"I missed you too," he said softly. "Who's your new teacher?"

"Mrs. Benson. She's new. We're starting off with _The Dubliners_."

"Old news, huh?" said Ezra. Getting up from his desk chair he looked on one the bookshelves to where an older-looking book sat. Giving it to her, he said, "Here's something to keep you busy, then."

"_A Room of One's Own_," read Aria slowly, "Virginia Woolf. I like her," declared Aria smiling.

"I thought you did," said Ezra, sitting back down in his chair.

Looking at the book closely, Aria flipped through the pages. "Ezra," she exclaimed suddenly. "I can't take this."

"Why not?" he asked lazily, leaning back in his chair.

"It's a first edition," she said breathlessly.

"So?" he asked looking at her.

"So?" she echoed. "So? It's worth an insane of amount of money." She put the book down on his desk next to her and jumped down. "I can't accept this."

"Aria," said Ezra reaching for her hand, he looked down for a moment to where skin met skin. It was the first time they had touched each other in months. "If I want to spoil you, please let me," he begged. "It's all I can do right now."

Aria looked at the book and then looked at him and into his pleading eyes. "All right," she sighed. "But I'm going to be scared I'm going to ruin the pages." She shook her head. "It's too much, Ezra. Don't do it again."

"Aria," he looked down at his socked feet for a moment before looking back up at her, "It's all I can give you right now," he repeated. It was all he could say.

"Tell you what," she said, letting go of his hand, "Buy me regular old books from the regular bookstore from now on and we'll be even."

"All right," he answered, but he hid his smile. She had no idea how much she was allowing him to do with that statement.

"I have to go," said walking towards the door, "I told my mom I would start dinner."

"Alright," answered Ezra turning back to his work.

"See you at dinner?" she asked hopefully, looking back at him.

He shook his head, "Probably not tonight. I was hoping to get this chapter done before bed."

"Ok, then," she answered. "See you later."

"Always," he replied.

That night after Aria had eaten dinner with her family and done her homework, she sat on her bed reading the book Ezra gave her when her phone rang.

"Hello," she answered.

"Aria," answered Emily softly.

"Hey, Em. What's up?" asked Aria, sitting up straighter in her bed.

"Have you talked to Spencer lately?"

"Not since lunch. Why?" asked Aria worriedly.

"I was running by her house earlier today and Jason DiLaurentis was in her front yard. They were arguing. And Mr. Hastings was arguing with them."

"The Hastings arguing in public," repeated Aria incredulously. "Something's really wrong over there. It has to do with more than Ian's suicide."

"You don't think…" Emily didn't complete the thought.

"I don't think what, Em?" asked Aria.

"You don't think that Jason might be Mr. Hastings' son, too?" questioned Emily tentatively.

"No," said Aria confidently, "No. She would have told us."

Emily sighed on the other end of the line, "It's only this is the first time she's talked to her father in months."

"Yes, but…" Aria struggled to think of another explanation, coming up with nothing she asked Emily, "It couldn't be, could it?"

"You know," said Emily carefully. "Jason was at Ian's funeral. He didn't look happy about something, and I thought," she paused, "I thought I saw him and Spencer talking together at some point."

"Maybe," Aria admitted. She waited a moment before continuing, "We should let Spencer tell us what's going on."

"Yeah," answered Emily, "I'm really worried about her."

"I'm worried about you to, Em," said Aria, changing the subject. "You spent the day either in swim practice or in class. Are you sure you're okay about Maya?"

Aria heard shuffling on the other end of the phone before Emily replied, "I know I'll be okay eventually, but everything had just started to work out with my parents. My mom was finally coming around to the idea of Maya and then," Emily let out a deep breath, "I just need to focus on college right now."

"Maybe we all do," said Aria, glancing at her clock. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you at school. Good night, Aria."

"Good night, Emily."

Downstairs Byron and Ella were watching TV on the sofa together when Byron flicked the screen off. "We weren't really watching anyway," he said to her.

"We weren't," she agreed. "What's on your mind?"

"What kind of book is Ezra writing?" asked Byron looking at the window to the house next door.

"He told me that he's taking Elliot's journals and turning them into a novel," answered Ella, she leaned her head against her husband's shoulder. "Why?"

"Curiosity," I suppose, answered Byron turning his attention back to his wife.

"Are you really going to be okay about Aria and Ezra being together?" she asked.

"When the time comes," answered Byron carefully.

"When the time comes," agreed Ella easily, "But until then?"

"I guess it's okay. I mean I guess I'm okay with it," he amended. "He's not her teacher anymore."

"I feel a but coming on," Ella replied dryly.

"Do you blame me?" he asked, his tone slightly exasperated. "He's nine years older than she is."

Ella sighed. "We've been over this."

"I know. I know," said Byron, forcing himself to remain calm. "But she's my little girl."

"She's my little girl, too," answered Ella. "And she could do a lot worse than Ezra Fitz."

"You mean, Ezra Fitzgerald," corrected Byron.

"No, I mean Ezra Fitz. She could do a lot worse than the boy next to door who's been sweet and considerate to her ever since they met."

"Except he's not a boy," muttered Byron.

"What was that?" asked Ella.

Byron cleared his throat. "I said that that's true."

"I thought you did," retorted Ella. She got up to the couch. "See you in bed?" She asked as she began to climb up the stairs.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," answered Byron as he headed to the kitchen. In the deserted dining room, he shook his head and said aloud, "I hope he's the man that Ella seems to think he is."

_August 23, 2012 _

_ We never know how life is going to turn out. A chance interaction can affect a person for a lifetime, little ripples of water turn into bigger and bigger circles. A mistake made years ago can haunt years later. I wonder if it's chance that gives and takes from us what it would. Do the Fates still spin our destinies? Maybe it's man that creates his own path in life. Or in my case, woman. _

_ It's easy to blame our parents for things that we inherit, the problems and pains of this world. It's easy to blame their parents and their parents until we go back to Adam and Eve. But this doesn't solve anything except spread the blame around. If it continues this way then my children will blame me and their children will blame them until another hundred generations have lived and died on this earth. _

_ It's much harder to blame ourselves for the bad things that happen, and most of the time it's not our fault for every bad thing that happens in our life. But that doesn't mean it's not not our fault either. I don't know what I'm rambling about. I guess I just think about Hanna who's had to deal with a family she doesn't want to be a part of her life, a family she never asked to be hers. And I think about Emily who is finally coming to terms with who she is before all that was ripped away from her. And I wonder about Spencer who has been through more in the last year than most people experience in al lifetime, and who's still hiding secrets from her friends, secrets she shouldn't be burdened with. _

_ The past can never be erased or undone. We can only move forward by learning from other people's mistakes and learning from our own. Today was the first day of the rest of my life. That sounds cliché, I know. But somehow it's true. I've entered a new phase, a new something that is more than just my senior year of high school. I don't know what's going to come next, what the Fates will weave for me or what the throw of the dice will be. But I, Aria Montgomery, am going to let whatever happens happen. That doesn't mean I'll let it define me, but it does mean that I will let it to help me grow and move forward. _


	21. Fall 2012

**A/N Please Review. I've been lacking motivation lately. How do you guys think the story is going so far? Do you like the journal entries at the end of each chapter? I'm guessing about ten more chapters until the end of the story. What do you think?**

* * *

Fall 2012 passed more swiftly than Aria had expected it to. Warm summer days turned into cool, chilly ones, and she became settled in a routine that included school and friends and family. The days melded together as Aria's last year of childhood passed by. Still, some events stood out, some much more than others.

On September 3, 2012, Spencer ran all the way to Aria's house from her own. Collapsing on her bed, she admitted that Jason DiLaurentis was her half-brother, born out of an affair with Mrs. DiLaurentis while her own mother had been pregnant with Melissa.

"No wonder Mr. Hastings freaked out when Jason started to date Melissa," muttered Hanna, sitting in Aria's desk chair.

"Hanna," chastised Aria from her place next to Spencer on the bed.

"What?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "It's true."

"How are you holding up, Spence?" Aria asked her friend, half-hugging her.

Spencer sighed. "Better now, I think, to get that out there. My parents don't want anyone to know, but screw that." She made a face, "He's my brother, and Jason deserves to know his father. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks."

"Sometimes what the rest of the world thinks affects how we go about our lives," said Emily softly. "I wonder what would have happened if I had had the courage to tell my parents who I really am years ago."

Spencer's gaze softened as she looked at her friend, "But sometimes we have to forget about what the rest of the world thinks about us and believe in who we know ourselves to be. After everything that's happened with Alison and Ian and Melissa's miscarriage and now this," Spencer shook her head, "It's made me think about who I really am and who I want to be."

"What are you going to do now?" asked Hanna.

Spencer shrugged, "Live without any secrets." Resting her hand in her head, Spencer continued, "Be myself. Enjoy my last year of high school. Be with Toby," she finished. The girls talked the rest of the night. It was a Saturday. When Ella came to check on them in the wee hours of the morning, she found them curled up together on Aria's bed, sleeping.

September 15, 2012, was Aria's eighteenth birthday. She woke up to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes and freshly-squeezed orange juice. As always, the presents were on the window seat, and she opened them. The bag from her parents contained a new and rather expensive looking, black journal. Mike's gift was a framed picture of them together in Iceland. Ezra's gift, which he gave to her when she came over to his house later, after school had let out for the day and she had promised her friends she would have dinner with them, was a bracelet.

"Happy Birthday," he wished her giving her the small package.

"No first edition books?" she asked teasingly as she opened the wrapping.

"I promised, remember," he answered, smiling.

"Oh, Ezra," she exclaimed breathlessly. "It's beautiful. But it's too much." She looked up at him.

"No it's not," he said firmly taking the bracelet out of its package and clasping it on her arm. "You said that I couldn't spoil you with books. You never said anything about jewelry. Besides," he finished, "you only turn eighteen once."

Aria looked to where the bracelet sparkled on her arm. It was gold and encrusted with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. She had a sinking feeling that it cost more than her car. But it was beautiful, she admitted to herself. "You sure?" she asked.

"Of course I am," answered Ezra.

Aria smiled, lost in her thoughts, "Remember when you gave me Mrs. Springer's angel necklace?" She pulled it out from underneath her shirt, "I never take it off."

"You loved her," said Ezra softly.

"I love you too," said Aria. Suddenly, smiling mischievously she leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I wouldn't say no," she whispered in his ear cryptically.

He groaned, "Aria," he warned.

She shrugged, "Just thought I'd try."

That night Aria's journal entry was written in the new journal her parents had gotten her. She wrote about life, love, family, friends, and the act of writing itself. "It's good to record things," she wrote, "I like remembering things long after other people forget. It's good to tell our own stories."

October 17, 2012 was the day of the Homecoming dance. Spencer roped her friends into helping her set up, and they reluctantly walked into the gym of Rosewood High at 8:00 that Saturday morning.

"Wow," said Emily, taking off her sunglasses to look around. "This looks fantastic, Spence. What was the Homecoming budget again?"

"An anonymous donor gave us a good chunk of change to spend on Homecoming this year," answered Spencer from her place on the gym floor.

"Who donated the money?" asked Aria suspiciously.

"Who cares?" answered Hanna carelessly.

"Can you hand me the scissors from that table over there on that table?" Spencer pointed.

Homecoming, Aria admitted later, was fun. The gym looked awesome, and she didn't have to deal with the drama or emotional rollercoaster that last year's dance had entailed. Both she and Emily went stag, but Aria didn't mind. She enjoyed watching Toby and Caleb dance with Spencer and Hanna, and a couple of times, she and Emily "borrowed" them for a dance. "It's amazing," she wrote in her journal, "what makes us happy. It turns out to be the little things, like spending time with our friends."

October turned into November, and Aria watched as her friends become more and more content with her lives. Hanna became infinitely happier when Kate transferred out of Rosewood High and her stepfamily moved back to Maryland. Somehow, Aria knew in the back of her mind that Caleb hacking into Kate's computer after she publicly humiliated and taunted Hanna had something to do with it. Emily started seeing Paige McCullers, another member of the Rosewood High swim team, and she looked happier and more relaxed than she had in months.

Spencer had come to lean on Toby for support as she slowly, very slowly, came back on speaking terms with her father. Aria suspected that the weekly brother-sister dates she was having with Jason were helping. Aria also knew, somehow in her heart, that she would never really know what happened with Ian and how Spencer had even suspected him. But maybe that wasn't her story to tell.

Soon enough Thanksgiving vacation rolled around. The Montgomery family was spending the holiday in New York. Aria was going to take tours of both Columbia and NYU, and Ella wanted to see the parade with her family. Ezra went with them too on the pretext that he had a meeting with his publisher anyway. On the drive up to the city Aria learned that Ezra had an apartment there and they would be spending their nights there. However, when she walked through the penthouse door to a building located in Manhattan with a superb view of the New York skyline, she saw the word apartment was an understatement. With four bedroom and five bathrooms the apartment was as big as her house, bigger even.

"What do you think?" asked Ezra, setting her bag down in the living room area.

"It's nice," she answered neutrally as she touched the furnishings.

"It's one of the pieces of property I inherited," he explained, half-smiling, "What's wrong?" he asked her. She was too fidgety and too careful with everything she touched.

"I can't feel you in here," she explained. She shook her head, "It doesn't feel like a place you would live."

"Maybe you can help rectify that," he answered, "if you move here next year."

"Maybe," she replied.

_November 25, 2012_

_ I'm in the greatest city in the world, and all I can think about is that Ezra has this whole other life I had never thought about. I knew he was a Fitzgerald. I mean, he had told me, and he had admitted it, but I guess with him living in the little three bedroom house next door to mine I had never really thought about it. The bracelet he gave me for my birthday sits at the bottom of my jewelry box collecting dust. I'm too afraid to wear it. What if something happens to it? I'm sure it's worth thousands of dollars. _

_ I think I'm starting to understand why my dad was so worried about our relationship. Not only was Ezra my teacher, not only is he nine years older than I am, but he has the world at his feet. I know that's not the way he was raised, but still…it's an intimidating thought. My mom still sees him as her adopted son, and she still sees him as the nice boy who moved next door. But I'm glad we decided to wait and hold off on our relationship. I never thought I would think that but I do. We really don't know each other. I mean, we've known each other for years, but these new lives we've been given, they change us somehow. I'm not twelve anymore and Ezra isn't a grieving twenty-two year-old either. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens next. _


	22. March, June 2013

**A/N I know it's sad, but I promise a happy ending, a very happy ending that will make up for all the pain I'm putting you through. :)**

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March 19, 2013, Aria got her acceptance letter into Columbia. Piling it on top of her other acceptance letters, including one from Hollis and another from UCLA, she sighed and pulled out a book from the drawer by her desk. Ezra had given it to her Valentine's Day. As promised, it was a regular book from Rosewood's bookstore downtown. Aria reread the title page before she turned to the first chapter. _Winesburg, Ohio_ it read. She looked at the inscription on the book. _For When you leave Rosewood…_Ezra had written.

She sighed and read the first sentence. Ezra had been almost like his old self lately. There had been no extravagant gifts, no more trips to New York. Other than the fact that he had been dutifully working on his book, she would almost expect to see him is the hallways of Rosewood High. It was where he belonged. She was starting to remember the old Ezra, and even in the wake of this new one she believed that he was still the man she loved. He would cherish her forever, she knew that. But he seemed preoccupied with something else now. Suddenly, she turned back to the inscription page. He was preoccupied about her leaving.

Aria looked to where the letter from Columbia sat on her desk. Was he afraid that she would leave and come back someone other than the girl next door? She had already lived away from him, when she had gone to Iceland, and she had come back in love with him. Why then was he so worried? Abruptly angry she threw the book across the room. Why was he making her wait. She loved him. She would never love anyone else. She would never want to be with anyone else. He wasn't her teacher anymore, and she wasn't his student. She wasn't twelve and he wasn't twenty-two. Hadn't he healed by now? Couldn't he let go of the past and hold onto the future, hold on to her? She meant what she wrote all that time ago, the Springers had taught her that life is too short not to go after what you wanted.

Grabbing her journal from the bedside table, she began to write. After she had scrawled the first few sentences, her anger had quickly abated. Her hurried strokes began calmer and more peaceful. Her thoughts began to settle as she stopped thinking about the what-ifs of her life.

"You okay?" a voice asked suddenly.

Startled Aria looked up from her bed, "Yeah, I'm fine, Mike," she answered easily.

Her brother noticed she wasn't smiling. "Are you sure? I thought I heard you throw something?" he asked pointedly.

"I did," she supplied, refusing to explain. Mike glanced at the book that lay in a corner of her room.

Walking a few steps into his sister's bedroom, he looked at her carefully before answering, "If this is about Ezra, then maybe you should talk to him about it."

"I don't want to talk to him," said Aria shortly.

"He has his reasons you know," Mike said quietly before heading back to his room.

"I know," whispered Aria.

_March 19, 2013_

_ When I went up to New York in November, Ezra talked about his apartment about me redecorating it. Was he just teasing me? Does he not want to come with me? He's more than just my English teacher. He's more than just my neighbor! Doesn't he know that by now? If he doesn't then Mom was right when she told me that all boys are dumb. Granted, I was seven when she said that, but if it was true then, isn't it true now? I know he means best, I know. I just can't help thinking about the what-if questions. What if this hadn't happened? What if this had happened? _

_ Mike just left. I feel better, I think, to get that out there. I miss the Ezra who used to cuddle with me on the couch and the Ezra who bought us take out and told me about his life. I feel so closed off from him right now. This new Ezra is involved in a book he won't even let me read and he's almost done with it. Does this new Ezra expect me to leave without him? Of course, I know the old Ezra did. But I'm not leaving without him. I can't leave without him. He means too much to me. It would be like trying to breath under water. _

_ Maybe I just have tell myself to have patience. I thought that when I turned eighteen, we could be together. Maybe he's waiting for graduation? Or another life event that I'm not aware of? I guess I need to be content with my friends and my family, and that includes Ezra the way he is now. Like Mom says, he's family. _

Ezra Fitz looked up to the podium temporarily placed on the Rosewood High gym, right under the basketball hoop. It was June 6, 2013. Graduation day. He saw Emily, Spencer, and Hanna smiling and shining with happiness. He also saw Noel Khan, giving him a dirty look as he sat in the bleachers. Ezra didn't care anymore. He was only there for Aria. She looked beautiful in her black cap and gown, her beautiful brown hair straightened and left hanging freely. She was smiling.

Ella shuffled in the seat next to him, and he saw that she was reaching for her camera. Frowning momentarily, he thought about his own high school graduation and how his own father neglected to be there. Pushing that thought into the back of his head, he looked to where Byron and Mike sat on the other side of Ella. This is what a family is meant to look like.

He half-listened as Spencer gave her valedictorian speech. It was quite good. She talked about life's sudden changes and unexpected happenings. He noticed that Mr. Hastings looked especially uncomfortable as Spencer directed her gaze towards him. As Spencer finished talking about moving on and moving forward, he watched as the graduating seniors lined up near the stage and walked across it to receive their diplomas. Because Aria's last name was Montgomery, she was toward the middle of the line. Even when he thought about that exact moment years later, it would still fill him with an indescribable feeling. Like Aria once wrote, there are some things that couldn't be described with words.

Ezra took pictures with Aria, and some of the other students who had had him as their English teacher asked him for pictures too. But that night, Aria spent it celebrating with her friends. He was left alone in his house, left to write his book in the solitude of his own life. He felt a pang of pain as he thought about her questioning eyes as she looked at him. How she had tried, unsuccessfully, to kiss him in public. He moved so that her lips caught his cheek.

Sitting alone in his own bedroom, he took out his journal from where it had been laying on his nightstand and began to pour his thoughts and feelings on the page.

_June 6, 2013_

_ Aria was in this room once. She had the compassion to think about the people who lived here before I did. She thought about the consequences of the affect she had on me. She seems to think about almost everyone and everything but herself. I wonder if I think too much or if I am not thoughtful enough. _

_ I once told her we had to wait. I once told her that our time would be together would be when we no longer had to ask the question of whether or not we should or could be together. The way she looked at me today, her eyes questioning—it was not time. She doesn't know how desperately I wish it to be, how my body aches for her touch. But pushing her into something she isn't ready for is something I don't want to do. The last birthday letter I read from my mother was for my twenty-fifth birthday. She talked about love and marriage, about finding the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. My mother talked about what it meant to cherish someone with your whole being. _

_ I don't know if my mother thought I would be married by my twenty-fifth birthday. I don't know if she thought that I would be going through some of the same struggles my father went through. I love Aria, and I will wait until I know what we want will be blessed by her parents and by society as a whole. It is cruel to sentence someone to live a life that is scorned by others. _

_ I hope she understands how precious she is to me. She doesn't like that I spoil her. She actually gave me a lecture when I made sure she and her friends had a ride for prom. I understand that material things are not a substitute for relationships with other human beings. What she doesn't understand is that I couldn't go with her that night, I can't be her teacher anymore either. So what am I? Neither boyfriend nor teacher? It's all I can give her. That and loving her from afar. _

As Ezra finished up his journal entry, the longest he had written in weeks, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

"Hello?" he answered tiredly.

"Hey, man," replied Hardy. "Are we going out tonight? It's Friday."

Ezra groaned quietly before saying, "Not tonight. I don't think I'm up for it."

"You okay?" asked Hardy, concerned.

"I'm fine," answered Ezra. "I've been thinking about my mom."

"Oh," said Hardy. He was silent for a moment. "Are you sure you should be alone right now? You've been shut up in your house for days."

"Yeah," replied Ezra. "I think I'm going to call it an early night."

"Next Friday?" asked Hardy hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll see you next Friday," said Ezra. "Good night."

"Good night, man," responded Hardy before hanging up the phone.

True to his word, Ezra almost immediately went to bed for the night. Half-asleep hours later, he heard the screeching of car tires and the slam of shut doors. He thought he could make out Aria's voice as she said good-bye to her friends, although he may have been dreaming. It was good, he thought, for her to be out with her friends, to have fun.


	23. Summer 2013

**Please Review!**

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The summer of 2013, Aria received a photography internship with Laurel Fields, a photographer from Philadelphia. She spent most of her time in the city and the rest of the time with her friends. To commemorate her new ventures, Ezra gave a biography of Ansel Adams on June 12. On June 18, she announced to her family that she had decided to go to Columbia in the fall. Spencer, who had also been accepted there, was going to go with her. They had both decided that it was close enough to Rosewood that both girls felt they could come home when they wanted, or in Spencer's case close enough so Toby and Jason could visit her in New York but far enough away to avoid her father. But Aria had always wondered what it would be like to live there and the sight of Ezra's apartment sparked a curiosity about his life that she could not voice.

That night Ezra wrote in his journal, "Aria's moving to NYC. I think I'll look in to the donors program at Columbia and see what the Fitzgerald family has contributed."

On June 26 Ezra was talking to his financial advisor on the phone. "Is everything taken care of?"

"Exactly to your specifications," replied the other man confidently.

"So she'll have absolutely no idea that this is coming from me?" asked Ezra.

"None of the girls will have any inkling that you were any way involved in this."

"Thanks, Thomas," said Ezra, smiling.

"Your welcome," answered Thomas. "How's the book coming along?"

"Should be in stores by next spring," responded Ezra.

"Marlene is really looking forward to reading it," said Thomas.

"How is Marlene?"

"The morning sickness just started to kick in about a week ago. But she's taking it like a champ."

"Good for her," answered Ezra. "Thanks for everything, Thomas. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Ezra. I'll see you the next time you're in New York."

"Okay, see you then. Bye," he said, hanging up the phone.

Thomas King, who was sitting in his corner office in New York City, could not have known that Ezra, who was sitting in his study, looked at the picture of Aria he kept on his desk wistfully, thinking about their unborn children. I his journal that day Ezra wrote, "I'll be ready, when the times, to be a husband and a father. That time just hasn't come yet."

On July 3 both Spencer and Aria received letters in the mail from Columbia. They stated that through donations from alumni and other generous members of the Columbia community, both girls had qualified for scholarships that paid for their tuition. Too excited to be suspicious, Aria celebrated with her family. Ezra was sure that it was a load taken off the shoulders of both Ella and Byron. "Thomas came through," Ezra wrote in his journal. "Now I have to wait for the other part of the plan to pull through."

The other part of the plan came through on July 7 and 10 respectively. July 7 Hanna, who was going to spend her college years in California with Caleb and his family, received a letter from the Art Institute in Los Angeles that they were looking forward to her presence at the school as a part of their fashion school. Hanna was so excited that she dragged her friends out to go shopping.

July 10, Emily received a letter from the University of North Texas, a liberal arts school near her father's military base, that in addition to the funds she would receive from her swimming scholarship, she would also be given money from a grant the university had recently received. It looked like most of her schooling would be paid for too. Emily was too thankful to voice it in words. "What makes Aria happy makes me happy," he wrote in his journal.

July 21, 2013, the same day Ezra turned twenty-eight, was the day he turned in his final manuscript to his publisher. He was happy about the final product, but he was even more excited that Aria had taken time out of her busy schedule to come visit him.

"I know you're coming over to the house to have dinner later," she said, walking into the door, "but I wanted to give you your present now." She sat down on the sofa next to him and grabbed a package from her oversized purse.

"What is it?" asked Ezra.

"If I wanted you to know, I would have wrapped it," Aria teased.

He opened the brown packaging slowly, untying the white string with care. "It's beautiful," he exclaimed breathlessly. "You did this?" he asked.

"All of it," answered Aria proudly, leaning closer to him so she could point out the details. "I took the picture a few weeks ago. Remember that practice shoot I told you, I needed to do? I developed the film, transferred it on to paper, picked out the frame, and here it is," she finished opening up her arms expressively. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," replied Ezra. "You're really talented."

"Thanks," said Aria, daringly leaning against him as he held the present in his hands. "It's kind of hard to think of something to give the person that has everything."

"I don't have _everything_," Ezra retorted, setting the picture frame down and wrapping his arm around Aria. He leaned his head in to kiss her on the forehead, but she moved at the last moment and his lips captured hers. He leaned in to it and Aria turned to push her body closer to his.

After several seconds Ezra pulled away and shook his head, "We can't do this right now."

Aria didn't argue; she didn't want to bother with the futile effort. "I love you, you know," she sadly said instead.

"I love you, too," answered Ezra watching as Aria got up from the living room sofa and, grabbing her bag, walked to the front door.

"See you later?" she asked hopefully.

"Always," he answered. Later that night, Ezra hung the picture she had given him in the bedroom right above the bed. It was a picture of the both of them in black-and-white. Years later, it hung in the same spot. Ezra refused to move it. "It means more to me than you'll ever know," he would explain. And it did.

_August 16, 2013_

_ Ella told me that Aria began packing up her room today, organizing everything into boxes and suitcases. Aria is going to do well in college. She will blossom. I'm glad she has Spencer going with her. I have a feeling that they'll be leaning on each other. I hope she understands that I'll be there for her too, even if it's not in the way she wants me to be. Soon, I think, soon we can be whatever it is she wants us to be. _

_ I heard back from my publisher today. Everything seems to be going well and on schedule. My editor says that his boss was absolutely raving about it. I wrote about Grandpa and Grandma, their marriage, and all the joys and tragedies life brings. I took a lot of the material out his journals. I don't think he would have minded. I rather feel like he and Grandma are watching over me right now, as I work on this book. I hope they watch over me as I head to New York to be near Aria and tie up some other loose ends in my life. _


	24. August-September 2013

**Please, Please update! I promise something you've been waiting for happends in the next chapter. Something BIG. **

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_August 24, 2013_

_ I've officially been a college student for three days now. Mom, Dad, and Mike left two days ago to head back to Rosewood. Ezra's still hanging around. He says he has meetings with his publisher. I think he just wants to make sure I'm okay. He's checked and double-checked to make sure I know how to get from my dorm to his apartment. And if that wasn't enough, he made sure Spencer knew in case anything ever happened. _

_ Spencer lives right down the hall from me. Her roommate, Troian, seems like a nice enough person. She's a theater major with a minor in film studies. Did I get all that right? Anyway, my roommate, Lucy, looks like she's sweet and fun-loving. She already invited me to go to a concert on Friday night. She's a music major. Her side of our tiny dorm room is decorated with posters from bands that I've never heard of. Lucy says her goal is to win American Idol. I say, do whatever it is you want to do. _

_ Spencer declared her major yesterday. She is now officially a political science major. I'm not sure what she wants to do with it. I get the feeling that she might change her major down the road. I declared mine today. I'm now part of the English program, but I think I might add a photography minor or double major. I enjoyed my internship too much to stop learning more about photography. I like the idea of telling stories whether they be in words or images. _

_ I talked to Hanna today. She and Caleb are all settled in an apartment in Los Angeles. She says that Caleb's family is great. I think she's a little relieved to be away from Kate and Isobel. I know she didn't want to leave her mother alone, but Mrs. Marin seemed to be really interested in Pastor Ted from the last update I got. Emily emailed me. Her classes don't start for another week, and she's taking the time to be with her dad. They've been apart for so long I think they're really starting to get to know each other. _

_ The last time any of us were together—me, Spencer, Hanna, Emily—we were standing in my driveway and Spencer and I were saying good-bye to our friends before driving up to Columbia with my parents. There were hugs and there were tears, promises to keep in touch, and threats as to what would happen if we didn't. As we pulled out of the driveway, I took one last look at the tree house. I could barely see it. I haven't used it in a long time. I guess I won't be using it now. _

_August 28, 2013_

_ Today was the first day of classes. I think it went well. I particularly liked my Literature by Women class with Dr. Mitchell. I actually hadn't read anything on the required reading list. This should be interesting. I met a friend—Ian. He's another English major. He's nice. He offered to lend me a pen when he saw that I had forgotten mine. _

_ Lucy's trying to get me to go to a frat party on Saturday night. I don't know how I feel about that. A part of me is saying go. Another part of me hears Ezra in the back of my head warning me about parties. Spencer thinks we should do whatever we feel like doing that night. Spencer seems happier. I don't think she feels as pressured here. At least she doesn't have her parents on her back anymore. She misses Toby like crazy, and I think the fact that she had to leave a brother she barely got to know slightly bothers her. I think Jason is coming up in September to visit. That should cheer her up. _

_ Ezra's still in town. He says he plans to be here until after my birthday. That'll be nice. _

_September 2, 2013 _

_ I think I understated how well Spencer was doing in an earlier entry. She's not just doing well. She's thriving. She enjoys her classes and she enjoys debating with other students. I think, for the first time in her life, she is able to be herself with pretext. We ended up not going to the frat party, not that one anyway. I have a large stack of books on my desk calling for my attention. I think I'm going to make this short so I can do my homework. _

_September 6, 2013 _

_ I caught myself thinking about the Springers today. It's the anniversary of the first time I knocked on their door all those years go. Look where it led me. They left something behind for me after they died. I know they did. It's more than just Mr. Springer teaching me the art of journal writing or Mrs. Springer's angel necklace. I think it's even more than just Ezra. It's all these little pieces that I'm trying to figure out and I just can't get right. They left me a message, a future, something. Now, I just have to figure out what that something is. _

_ I love Ezra and I'm so glad that he's a part of my life. He has become a member of my family, and even my dad admits that that connection will be cemented soon enough. Sometimes, I wonder, though, what would have happened if none of it had happened. If I hadn't knocked on the Springers door, if Mom hadn't invited Ezra to dinner that first time, if the tree house had never been built. Would everything still have unfolded the way that it did?_

_September 10, 2013_

_ Jason's in town visiting Spencer. He'll be here for three days before going back to Rosewood. Spencer is practically glowing. She even skipped class so they could have lunch together. I never thought I would write that sentence. Jason brought me my birthday gifts from my parents. I opened them early. My mom got me a scarf she thought I would like, and my dad, under my mom's direction, I'm sure, got me a pair of boots that I absolutely adore. Mike sent me a picture of my old room. Mom's kept it exactly the same even now that I'm gone. I should get going. I'm supposed to have dinner with Spencer and Jason tonight. _

_September 12, 2013_

_ Jason almost kissed me today. I can barely believe it. I had always thought of him as Alison's older brother. Now, I can only think of him as Spencer's brother, and Melissa's. What am I supposed to do? Should I tell Ezra? Should I not tell Ezra? It's not like we're technically together. I told Jason I was unavailable. He seemed to take it well, but still. It was flattering to be thought of in that way. Sometimes I wonder if Ezra still thinks of me that way. _

_ I'm still a little mad at him for what happened on his birthday. Why did he have to push me away? Why? Can't we move on? What's stopping us? Spencer's happy, and so are Emily and Hanna. Why don't I deserve the same thing? _


	25. Septembet 14-15, 2013

**I've had this chapter planned for a while. It's probably not what you were expecting.**

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Ezra was sitting in the living room of his apartment in Manhattan reading the final edited version of his manuscript when he heard a knock on his door. Startled, he looked up from his work. He hadn't been expecting anyone. He opened the door to find Aria standing there holding her heels in her hand.

"We'll are you going to let me in?" she slurred.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her closely as she stumbled into the apartment.

"Fine," she said as she staggered into the hallway throwing her shoes on the floor

"Where were you tonight?" he asked, following her.

"At a party," she called out happily. "Which one of these is your room?" she demanded, pointing frantically in all directions.

"The one on the end," he answered. "How much have you had to drink?"

"A little," admitted Aria, opening the door to his room. She fumbled to flick on the lights, finally succeeding. As white light surged into the room, she blinked and looked around. The walls were white and the comforter was gray. There were no pictures or paintings. "It doesn't feel like you," she said, walking into the room.

"It does look like a hotel room," admitted Ezra standing in the doorway.

Aria flopped onto the bed and bounced up and down a couple of times. "This is comfortable," she exclaimed. She sat back up to look at him, "Are you coming?"

"I think I'll stay here," said Ezra carefully.

"Come on, Ezra," whined Aria, "try this with me." She started to bounce up and down on the bed again.

"Aria," warned Ezra softly.

"Come on," urged Aria again. She giggled, "Nothing's going to happen."

Tentatively, he started walking towards her. When he was about a foot away from the bed, Aria grabbed his arm and pulled him next to her. "See," she said. "It's comfortable."

Sitting up, Ezra tried to get off the bed. "No," said Aria pulling him back down on the bed. "Don't go." He didn't stop her.

"What's wrong?" he asked instead.

"What's wrong?" she asked, giggling. "What's wrong? I don't know if you're my boyfriend or not. Are you?" she demanded.

"Aria," began Ezra sternly, "I think we should talk about this in the morning. When you're sober," he finished pointedly.

"Who cares?" she asked, failingly her arms.

"I do," said Ezra, sitting next to her.

"Well I don't," responded Aria. She leaned over to him and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Ezra murmured against her lips.

"I think we spend too much time thinking," answered Aria as she finished with the buttons. She pushed the shirt off his shoulders. Then, she wiggled out of her dress as Ezra watched. When she was down to her underwear, he could barely take his eyes off of her.

"You need to get dressed," said Ezra, trying to pull his shirt back on.

"No I don't," growled Aria. She came near him and straddled his lap. She began to kiss him, and although he tried to resist, he couldn't. Before he knew it, they were having a make out session and she was working on the zipper of his pants.

"We shouldn't be doing this," whispered Ezra.

"It's just you and me tonight," whispered Aria in his ear. "And this is the way I want it to be." As she finished with the zipper of his pants, her fingers calms and steady, he realized, belatedly, that she wasn't nearly as drunk as he had first believed.

"Please," begged Ezra, but she continued to kiss his. "I can't control myself."

"Then we're even," answered Aria as she unhooked her bra. Soon Ezra gave into his fervor and desires, some of which he hadn't even realized. The entire night was a blurry memory as the couple became entangled in sheets, and Ezra, who had been in a state of self-denial for over a year, and Aria, who had been in a state of frustrated desire for months, sated themselves with a passion that neither of them knew existed.

Aria woke up the next morning to sun streaming through the windows and Ezra's arm behind her head. In her state of half-awareness, she snuggled closer to him. But when her head met his shoulder, she sat up wide awake, her mind reeling from everything that had happened the night before. She looked around the room to where clothes had been thrown. And if that wasn't proof enough of what had occurred, the blood-stained sheets were. She groaned and sighed, quietly getting out of the bed to grab her dress. Putting in on quickly, she looked for her underwear.

"Looking for something?" a voice asked suddenly.

Aria swallowed. "We shouldn't have done that," she said from where she stood.

"No," answered Ezra easily, sitting up in the bed and wrapping the sheets around himself, "we shouldn't have. _I_ shouldn't have."

"It was just as much my fault," protested Aria. "More mine really. I pounced on you without warning."

"But I knew better," Ezra shook his head angrily. "We didn't even use a condom." As the thought crossed his mind, he looked up at Aria worriedly. "You don't think…" he couldn't complete the thought. "You're father's going to kill me."

"I'm on the pill," Aria shot back, "I'm not that stupid."

"How long?" asked Ezra.

"What does it matter?" asked Aria, shuffling her feet.

"How long have you been on the pill?" Ezra persisted.

Aria sighed, "My mom had the doctor put me on it when she first figured us out."

"All that time," muttered Ezra. He looked at her, "This was not how your first time should have been."

"It was supposed to be special, I know, I know," said Aria in frustration. "But it's over now. "Geez, Ezra. What's done is done."

"You're in a fine state," Ezra shot back. "Quoting _Macbeth_."

Aria was silent for a moment. "What happens now?"

Ezra groaned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I don't know," he answered after a while. "I just don't know."

"Did you not think I was ready?"

"What?" asked Ezra, unable to comprehend her question.

"I was the only virgin in my graduating class. Did you not think I was ready?"

"It's not just about you, Aria," said Ezra, growing angry. "It's about us. Were we ready? No, we weren't."

"When were we going to be ready?" demanded Aria. "When? When I'm forty? I'm eighteen. You're not my teacher anymore. I'm in college. We're in New York City for Pete's sake!" she exclaimed.

As she ranted, Ezra grabbed something from the drawer of the nightstand. "I was going to take you out for your birthday tonight," he answered defiantly. "This was supposed to be your birthday present. I thought we could start slowly. Start going out like a _normal_ couple without being stared at or judged." He tossed the small package onto the bed. Aria stared at it before reaching out to grab it.

Opening the small box, she nearly gasped at what she saw. They were gold earnings with emeralds and studded with sapphires, diamonds, and rubies. It would only be later that she realized that it matched her bracelet that he had given her at her last birthday. She could only stare at him. "It's too much," she said, holding out the package to him.

He shook his head, "It's my way of saying I love you. You've spent your whole life taking care of everyone else. It's time someone took care of you."

"I don't care about your money," said Aria through clenched teeth.

He shrugged. "It's another reason I love you." Gathering the sheets from the bed, he wrapped himself in them as he got up from the bed. "I'm going to take a shower," he told her calmly. "When I get done, I'll take you back to school."

Aria said nothing, but remained where she was clutching the box in her hands, watching as he walked towards the bathroom. But when Ezra exited through that same door twenty minutes later, Aria was gone.


	26. September 15, 2013

**Some of you are complaining about whiplash concerning Aria and Ezra's relationship, but I feel like that's one what happens in the series and I'm trying to mimic that. I promise it stabalizes from here on out. Please Review! Remember, reviews=motivation=updates.**

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Spencer felt the buzz of her cell phone before she was fully awake. Pulling out of her pocket, she mumbled, "Hello," pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Spencer?" asked a frantic voice. "It's Ezra. Is Aria with you?"

"Aria?" replied Spencer sleepily. "I don't know where she is. I saw her at the party last night talking to Ian."

"Can you please check to see if she's in her room?" Ezra begged. "She won't answer her phone, and I think she was upset when she left my apartment this morning."

Glancing at her digital alarm clock, Spencer saw that it read 7:24. Suddenly, she bolted up straight in bed. "Aria was at your apartment this morning?" she exclaimed. "Why was she there so early?"

Ezra sighed. "It's a long story. Will you check her dorm room, please?"

"I'll call you back in five," Spencer promised, hanging up the phone. Rolling out of bed, she realized that she was still dressed in the clothes she was wearing last night, jeans and a blouse, and her shoes were still on her feet. She groaned at the sight of herself in the mirror, remembering the frat party the night before, and quickly ran a brush through her hair before running down the flight of the stairs at the end of the hallway to Aria's room.

When nobody answered the door, Spencer knocked even more vigorously. Suddenly, a slightly frazzled, slightly annoyed looking Lucy opened the door. "What?" she asked shortly. "It's six a.m. on a Saturday."

"It's seven-thirty actually," corrected Spencer.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "And?" she questioned pointedly.

"Is Aria here?" asked Spencer. "It's important."

"She came, she changed, she left," grumbled Lucy. "I don't know where she went. Good night," she finished, closing the door on Spencer and stumbling back to bed.

Spencer walked back towards her room, and called Aria on her phone. When she got voicemail, she left Aria a message. Then, she texted her friend. When she failed to receive an answer, Spencer called Ezra back. "Hey, Ezra," began Spencer.

"Yes?" he answered anxiously.

"Her roommate said she came by the room but she's gone now. She's not answering any of my calls either."

Spencer heard Ezra sigh on the other end of the phone. "Thanks," he answered. "At least I know she's safe."

"Is there anything else I can do?" she asked, opening the door of her own room and walking in.

"Do you think you can come over?" asked Ezra. "I think I need to talk to someone who knows Aria."

Puzzled, Spencer answered, "Sure. I'm just going to change. See you in thirty minutes?"

"Do you know how to get to my apartment?" Ezra asked.

Spencer nodded her head vigorously as she looked at the clothes in her closet. "You only made me memorize it and recite it to you a dozen times."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few," he said, hanging up the phone.

Forty-five minutes later, Spencer knocked on what she was sure was Ezra's door. It was the only door on the floor for that matter, and looked around her curiously before Ezra answered.

"Hi," he said, half-smiling. "Come in."

Spencer walked in tentatively, shocked at her surroundings. Turning back she looked at Ezra. He looked like the same old Ezra from Rosewood but this apartment... "Wow," was as all she could muster. "Did they pay you in advance for that book or something?"Ezra laughed slightly, a good sign, Spencer thought, considering how worried he was when he had called.

He shook his head, "It's a long story. Why don't we go into the dining room and talk about it? I ordered some breakfast for you. I thought you might be hungry."

"All right," Spencer answered looking around as she followed him into the next room. "Don't get me wrong, but this doesn't seem like it's your taste."

Ezra offered her a seat at the large mahogany table before answering, "I think it's my uncle's."

"Oh," said Spencer, raising an eyebrow. She sat down. "So, what's for breakfast?" She watched as Ezra pulled out an assortment of food from several brown paper bags.

"Bagels, fruit, yoghurt," he recited. "Juice or coffee?" he asked.

"Coffee. Black, please," she answered.

"Coming right up," he said, walking back into the kitchen to get her a cup.

Spencer looked at the view of the New York skyline from the large windows in the dining room. She almost didn't notice as Ezra placed a cup of coffee in front of her. "So who's this uncle?" she asked, taking a sip.

"Wesley Fitzgerald," answered Ezra nonchalantly.

Spencer nearly choked on her coffee. "_Fitzgerald_?" she croaked. "As in Fitzgerald endowment for the arts? Fitzgerald preservation fund?"

"Yup," answered Ezra. "That Fitzgerald." Ezra took a sip of his own coffee as Spencer studied him carefully.

"You sure hide it well," she remarked, spreading cream cheese on a bagel.

"Hide what well?"

"The fact that you're a gazillionaire who's been spoon fed since birth. Why were you teaching high school in Rosewood?"

Ezra sighed. "It's a long story."

"Okay," she answered, nodding her head. "We'll get to that. Tell me about what happened with Aria."

"That's a long story," stated Ezra again.

"Well, what happened last night?" Spencer looked pointedly at him. He looked away sheepishly.

"Aria and I might have umm, yeah," he finished vaguely.

"So I guessed," answered Spencer. She took a bit of her bagel. She chewed thoughtfully before replying, "And Aria is upset about it?"

"I didn't force her to do anything," said Ezra quickly.

"Calm down," said Spencer, "I know her. I assume she pounced on you?" Ezra nodded. "But you guys don't have that kind of relationship. Do you?"

"Not yet," said Ezra.

"And she left without saying good-bye?"

"Hmm-mm," he answered.

"What did you say to her?" asked Spencer, taking another bite of her bagel.

"I might have told her that I knew better than to sleep with her."

"Ezra," Spencer cried out. She leaned back into her chair and scowled. "No wonder she was upset. Boys can be so dense."

"What did I do?" asked Ezra worriedly.

Spencer was silent for a moment, considering. "You've known Aria for a long time. Does she like to be told what to do?"

"No," answered Ezra.

"Does she do what she wants without anyone caring what anyone thinks?"

"Yes."

"Who's the one person in the world she cares about more than anyone in the world?" Spencer finished.

"Me," answered Ezra without hesitation, "although her family and friends aren't far behind."

"Well, considering that she wasn't having sex with any of us," Spencer continued even though she saw Ezra flinch, "means that it's something you did. Aria does what she wants without caring about the consequences, but the one person whose opinion does matter, didn't think that what she wanted most in the world was a good idea."

"But she said we shouldn't have done it," exclaimed Ezra.

"She was looking for a contradiction not a confirmation," said Spencer simply. She watched as understanding dawned in his eyes.

"But," sputtered Ezra. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment, opening them he said, "I need to find her."

"She doesn't want to be found right now," Spencer answered. "And you're staying right where you are. There are six more bagels in the bag, and you have something you need to tell me, so spill it."

"Which part?" Ezra groaned.

"All of it," answered Spencer. She grabbed another bagel and spread cream cheese on it. "From the beginning, please," she prompted, taking a bite of the bagel.

Spencer was waiting in Aria's room for her when Aria decided to go back hours later. Lucy made no protests as Spencer camped out on Aria's bed. She couldn't. She had left to spend the rest of the weekend with some friends in Jersey.

"What are you doing here?" asked Aria, throwing her bag into the corner. Sitting her desk chair, she started going through her textbooks, mostly as a way to avoid her friend.

"I talked to Ezra today," stated Spencer.

"Oh?" asked Aria. "What did he say?"

"He told me everything," said Spencer, staring at her friend.

"What do you mean 'everything'?" asked Aria as she rifled through her history book.

"I mean, I know about the Springers, the Fitzgeralds, the sex," she finished carelessly.

Aria's gaze met Spencer's. "He told you all that?"

"I might have forced him," Spencer admitted. She took the book out of Aria's hands and laid it on the book next to her. Aria shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I know that sometimes I haven't been supportive of this thing that you and Ezra have going on," began Spencer. "I might even have been creeped out by it a few times." Aria glared at her friend, "But," Spencer continued, emphasizing the word. "If there's anything I've learned today, it's that he loves you very much."

"Sometimes I'm not sure anymore," whispered Aria. "He feels so far away sometimes. And he spoils me like I'm some pet that needs to be taken care of. Do you know what he gave met this morning?" Not waiting for an answer, Aria grabbed her jewelry box off her desk and went through it. Spencer gasped when she saw the earrings.

"Those must be worth…" Spencer let the thought hang.

"That was just this year," explained Aria, "Last year, he got me this," she thrust the bracelet to her friend.

"Wow," said Spencer, "Just wow." She let out a deep breath. "Why is this a bad thing again? Receiving jewelry from a man who loves you?"

"Because," responded Aria, "it makes me feel so insignificant. Like I'm some kind of object he can decorate."

"I think it's the opposite," replied Spencer. "I think by giving you these things he's showing you how much he loves you, how much he values you."

"Maybe," replied Aria, unconvinced.

Spencer sighed. "He's been the guy next door for so long even when you guys really were together that I think you don't understand how he's change, and how you've changed his life."

"What do you mean?" asked Aria.

"He's not looking at you as the girl next door anymore, Aria," said Spencer. "He looks at you as the woman he's going to spend the rest of his life with."

Aria contemplated this for a moment and looked her friend in the eye, "How did you become so perceptive?"

"Ezra and I talked. Talked," repeated Spencer. "No journal writing, no letter giving, no talking through other people and stories. Talked face to face. That's what you two need to do."

"Not right now," Aria shook her head. "I don't think I can face him."

"Yes, right now," said Spencer, getting up from the bed. "You're supposed to meet him for dinner in an hour."

"No," answered Aria defiantly. "I'm not going. He's going to take me to a fancy restaurant that'll make me feel uncomfortable."

Spencer grabbed an item out of Aria's closet and threw it towards her friend. "He said you could wear jeans."

"Really?" asked Aria, doubtful.

"Trust me," said Spencer. "Trust _him_."

Hesitating for a moment, Aria got off her desk chair and pulled on the jeans Spencer had thrown towards her. "Which top do you think?" she asked.

"This one," Spencer smiled, handing Aria a red blouse she knew was one of her favorites.

It was September 15, 2013, Aria's nineteenth birthday, and both Aria and Ezra's journals marked the day as the beginning of their new adult relationship where she wasn't the girl the next door, and he wasn't the neighbor that lived next to her.


	27. Thanksgiving Week 2013

**A/N Please Review! I really appreciate them. Plus, they keep me motivated. For those of you who were wondering/commenting I'm currently an English major. I'm nearly done with my degree and I plan to go on to graduate school for English. What I post on here is just for fun (and for character study) and is usually a first draft. I'm keep making up the story as I go along. I do not own PLL. **

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November 23, 2013. Aria sat in the kitchen of the Montgomery house and watched as her mother peeled potatoes for the next day's Thanksgiving dinner. It was her first time back since she had left home and she was enjoying the familiarity of the scene.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Aria asked Ella.

"I'm sure," Ella responded, "I'd much rather hear you talk about school." She grabbed another potato from the bag and started to peel it.

"I declared an English major."

"I knew that," replied Ella listlessly.

"My roommate's name is Lucy. She's a musician. She says she's going to win American Idol one day."

"Really?" Ella didn't seem very interested.

"My favorite class is Literature by Women. I read _Persuasion_ last week. I meet Ian in that class too. He's nice. All-American boy. From a military family, that sort of thing."

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Ella began to chop the potatoes she had peeled.

"Ummm," Aria stalled. "How's Rosewood High?" she asked instead.

"Aria," her mother warned.

Aria sighed in defeat. "Fine. Ezra and I went on our first real date. On my birthday."

Ella deliberately set the knife down on the cutting board, turned to her daughter, and gave her a bright smile. "Finally," she said, raising her hands towards heaven.

"You're okay with this?" Aria watched as her mother came to sit across from her at the table.

"More than okay with this," Ella told her daughter firmly. "What happened?"

"Well," began Aria slowly, "In an abbreviated version of events—we got into an argument. Spencer got involved. She made us talk to one other. We lived happily ever after. Maybe," she finished.

"Where did you go for your birthday?"

"Coney Island," pronounced Aria with a smile. "It was fun. I got to wear jeans, and nobody stared at us."

"Of course not, sweetie," said Ella slowly. "Why would they?"

Aria looked out the window for a moment before turning her gaze back to Ella. She shrugged. "I just expected it. He's nine years older than I am. He was my teacher. He's a Fitzgerald."

Ella took her daughter's hand in hers before answering, "There in the city, nobody knows those things."

Aria peered at her mother, "You're glad I went away, aren't you?" she realized.

Ella nodded her head slowly, "I am. I'm glad that you realize that, to the outside world, there's nothing wrong with your relationship _now_," she emphasized. "But I'm also glad that you're experiencing a little bit of the outside world."

"Mom, we lived in Iceland for a year," said Aria pointedly.

"But you're an adult now," replied Ella. Aria contemplated that thought for a moment before asking another question.

"We're you upset," she asked carefully, "when you figured out that I was seeing Ezra even though I was his student?"

Ella looked her daughter hard and took a moment to brush the hair out of her eyes. "If it had been anyone other than you—someone he known and trusted for years—I think I would have felt betrayed. But it just felt right. And now," she paused for a moment, "it feels normal."

"Not the typical girl next door story, huh?"

Ella shook her head, "Not typical at all."

"What does Dad think?"

"Your father is…concerned. But now that you've graduated, I think he's handling it better. Just don't get married too soon."

"Married?" Aria ground out, stunned.

"Honey, you didn't think Ezra was going to lead you on all this time and then not marry you, did you?"

"I just, I just never heard anyone say it out loud before," said Aria.

"Maybe it's time you start thinking about it," Ella suggested. She squeezed Aria's hand before letting go and getting up from the table. "Oh, and Aria?" she said, turning back to her daughter. "No sleepovers at Ezra's. That would give your father a heart attack." She turned back around and gave her attention to the potatoes. Shocked, Aria could only stare at her mother.

That night, Aria wrote in her journal Dad and marriage, circling each of those words and putting question marks next to them.

The rest of vacation passed swiftly, and, to Aria, it almost felt like old times. With the exception of Emily's absence, it seemed that Rosewood never changed. She even had a night in with her friends at Hanna's house on November 25.

"What's so funny?" asked Spencer. She was curled up on Hanna's bed, staring at her friends as they sat on the floor and painted their nails.

"You," laughed Hanna. "You've loosened up so much I hardly recognize you."

"What about you?" shot back Spencer. "Who knew you were the family type. You've hardly stopped talking about Caleb's family since you got home."

"Children, children," Aria shook her head, "stop bickering."

"You don't get off so easy," said Spencer.

"Yeah," echoed Hanna, "I saw you and Fitz holding hands in public. Right in the middle of Rosewood. Risqué,"

"Are you blushing? You are," Spencer laughed.

"Yeah, well, you're the one who brought the two of us together."

"Really?" asked Hanna. She grew serious. "Do tell."

"It started out with Aria jumping Fitz and getting him to have sex with her," began Spencer.

"Spencer!" interrupted Aria. "Don't tell her that. I don't want my parents finding out."

"Are you saying I can't keep a secret?" asked Hanna.

"Well," let out Aria.

"I will have you know that I haven't told you guys about Caleb's dad," Hanna clamped her hand over her mouth.

"This is why we don't tell you anything," Spencer piped up. "Anyway, so Fitz and Aria. Did you know that his real name is…"

"Spencer!"shrieked Aria. "No," she said firmly.

Spencer lifted her arms up helplessly, "She's going to find out anyway."

"I'm going to find out what?" asked Hanna.

"That Toby and Spencer hooked up at her house when her parents weren't home," supplied Aria. She looked at Spencer and shrugged, "Payback."

"So, Caleb and I do it all the time," Hanna stared back at her friends innocently.

"Well, Melissa didn't walk in on you did she?" replied Aria.

"Aria," let out Spencer, throwing a pillow in her direction. Aria threw it right back. Soon Hanna was involved and hairbrushes and nail polish lay forgotten on the floor. Aria's journal entry for November 25 read very little. Instead, a taped photograph of her with her friends covered the page.

November 27, Sunday, the last day she would be at home before returning to school, Aria and Ezra walked down the main drag of Rosewood in the middle of the day, holding hands and smiling at each other. They looked at the windows of shops and stopped at The Brew for a cup of coffee. It had opened up since Aria had gone away to school and as soon as she walked in she liked the ambiance and feel of the place. She let Ezra order her coffee as she looked for a place to sit.

She was walking to a back corner when she spotted Jason on one of the sofas. He spotted her, and she took a moment to say hello, deciding that it would be rude not to greet him.

"Hello," she said politely.

He got up from his seat, "Hi."

"Spencer said that you were working in Philadelphia," Aria offered.

"Yeah, I was working with my dad's, my stepdad's," he corrected himself, "construction company. I'm part of the architecture firm." His eyes flickered to where Ezra stood in line by the counter. "I haven't seen you since I went to visit Spencer."

"It's been busy," Aria paused, "I'm sorry, I…"

"You're not available," Jason supplied, "I know." He looked and saw that Ezra was waving to Aria and watched as she smiled back at him. "He used to be my teacher," he stated thoughtfully.

Aria looked at him carefully. "He's my neighbor," was all she said. "I knew him before he was your teacher."

"And yours too, I suppose," said Jason. He offered Aria a small smile.

"I'm sorry," she responded. She looked to an empty table in the corner, "I'll be sure to tell Spencer I saw you. It's was nice seeing you."

"You too," said Jason. He sat back on the couch and later watched as Aria and Ezra held each other's hands and talked, oblivious to the fact that the world was watching them.

Later that night, Aria and Ezra were cuddling on the couch in his living room watching a movie when Aria asked, "Do I have to go back to school tomorrow?"

Ezra paused the movie before answering, "I would be very disappointed if you didn't."

"I know, I know," groaned Aria. "I'm smart. I'm talented. I shouldn't waste that. Same old story everyone else hears."

"But you're not everyone." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You're my Aria." She giggled.

"I used to think I wouldn't like that," she mused, "being someone else's."

"It's only fair," he protested, "I'm yours."

"Does that mean you'll give me whatever I want?"

"Whatever," Ezra affirmed.

"Let's take off to Paris," said Aria.

"Alright."

"No, let's go to Brazil."

"Okay."

"Buy me a Porsche?"

"If you want one."

"How about a cruise in the Caribbean?"

"Fine by me."

"Let me move in?" Her tone didn't change but Ezra sensed her body language. She suddenly became tense, expecting a serious answer. He turned so he could face her.

"I thought your mom said no sleepovers."

"How do you know that?" asked Aria.

"Because your dad told me the same thing." Ezra sighed and considered. "We're going to do this the right way. We'll date. I'll propose. We'll get married. Then, you'll move in," he finished.

"Marriage," said Aria, "that's the second time I've heard someone say that about us this vacation."

"Does it scare you?" he asked.

"Does it scare you?" she returned.

"I'm twenty-eight years old," he reminded Aria softly. "The idea of marriage doesn't intimidate me the way it once did."

"It frightens me a little," Aria admitted, "mostly because I've never thought of it before. But the idea you," she continued, "that doesn't scare me one bit."

"Good," said Ezra leaning back into the couch. "So we're agreed."

"We're agreed on what exactly?" asked Aria, raising an eyebrow.

"That one day we'll get married, one day we'll move in. But we're not ready for it now."

"One day we'll be a family," added Aria.

Ezra shook his head, "We're already a family now." Aria instinctively leaned in closer to him, laying her head on his chest.

"I guess we are."

_November 28, 2013_

_ I go back to Columbia tomorrow for classes on Tuesday. Spencer's ready, but I know she'll miss Toby. I'll miss Ezra too. He's staying here for now. He said something about a couple of projects he's working on. He's promised to come visit often. He gave me a key to his apartment and said Spencer and I were allowed to use it whenever we wanted. No parties, was all he asked. _

_ Ezra once told me that I should redecorate his apartment. I didn't take him seriously at the time, but maybe now I should. His place seems too gray and modern. Formal, that's a good word for it. It's not his taste at all. Or mine. Maybe that can be something I work on while he's gone. I'll surprise him for his birthday! That's plenty of time to get everything done. _

_ The countdown to Christmas vacation begins. Three major papers and an oral presentation stand between me and semester break. I'm counting down the days. _


	28. Winter-Summer 2014

**Please Review! I recently posted a one-shotish story called When the Story of Our Lives Began about Aria and Ezra's daughter growing up and them having to decide what tell them about how they met and fell in love. I reallly like the way that turned out, and itfyou like this story I suggest you check it out. **

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February 14, 2014, Ezra went up to New York to see Aria. They went to dinner at a low-key restaurant Aria approved of and then she talked Ezra into going dancing. They had limited success on the dancefloor. They ended the night with Toby and Spencer in Ezra's apartment, talking around the coffee table in the living room. It was a night of friendship and good memories. "Perfect," Aria wrote in her journal.

However, the day that would be even more memorable than Valentine's Day was March 27, 2014 when Ezra's book became available to the general public. Aria had read the book and understood where Ezra was coming from when he wrote the book. "It's about my mom," he had told her in December, "and Grandma and Grandpa, us, and the heartache that comes with life's tragedies."

"Sounds like a sad book," she had said, flipping through the pages of the unpublished manuscript.

"A little," he had admitted, "but I like to think it's about life's little joys in the wake of those tragedies."

"What's the title?" she had asked.

"_When Angels Fall_," Ian told her. They were sitting together on a bench in one the Columbia's courtyards. It was a gray March day.

"What?" asked Aria looking up from her cell phone.

"You asked what I was reading," he replied. "It's called _When Angels Fall_. I saw in the bookstore window on my way to school this morning and it looked interesting, so I got it," he explained. "It's by Ezra Fitz," he read aloud slowly. He immediately felt Aria stiffen next to him.

Ian ignored her and continued, "I have gotten very far, but it's interesting. You can tell the author put his heart into his writing. Look, on the dedication page he writes: 'To the little girl in the tree house and the extraordinary woman she has become. You knew me when I didn't know myself. I love you.' Doesn't that just make you wonder who this mysterious person is?" Aria stared blankly at her friend. "Are you okay, Aria?" he asked, trying to catch her gaze.

"I uh," Aria cleared her throat. "I need to go. I completely forgot about the reading assignment in our class. I should go do it." Ian watched as she hastily grabbed her bag and walked in the completely opposite direction of the library. Shrugging, he turned his attention back to his book, oblivious to the storm that was about to erupt in Aria's life.

Aria, walking as quickly as she could in two inch heels, ducked behind one of the school's columns. Making sure she was secluded, she speed-dialed the number on her phone and waited impatiently as it rang. "Why didn't you tell me?" she hissed in greeting.

"Tell you what?" Ezra's muffled voice came over the phone.

"Anything," she answered shortly. "The title, the _dedication_," she said pointedly.

"You knew the title hadn't been set yet when you asked. And the dedication," she could almost hear him shrugging over the phone, "I thought it was obvious."

"And you couldn't tell me?" she sounded upset.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise," he answered. "I'm sorry if you didn't like it."

"It's not that I don't like it," Aria paused and sighed. "What about the 'I love you'?" she asked.

"What's wrong with that?" he protested. "I've told you that many times."

"You haven't," Aria forced herself to calm down before she continued, "You haven't told me that since we got back together."

"I love you," he replied.

Aria half-smiled to herself and then answered. "It just feels so different now," she said. "Not bad, just different."

"We're not exactly the same anymore, Aria," he answered.

"No," she responded. "We're not."

"I don't feel like your dad wants to skin me every time he sees me now," put in Ezra humorously.

"He never wanted to that," exclaimed Aria.

"Oh, I beg to differ," laughed Ezra.

"I miss you," said Aria wistfully. "I wish you weren't in Rosewood."

"You were here two weeks ago."

"I know, but I still miss you," she said.

"I could come over this weekend," he suggested tentatively.

She smiled. "That would be nice."

"I don't want to smother you," admitted Ezra.

"You're not," replied Aria. She leaned her back against the column. "You think I can sleep over?" she asked hopefully.

"Aria," warned Ezra. "We talked about this after what happened last time."

"I know, I know," muttered Aria.

"But," he countered, "we can watch movies together and I can order take out."

"I'd like that," said Aria. She turned her head as she heard voices coming from around the building. "I've to go."

"I'll talk to you later," answered Ezra. He was about hand up his phone when she stopped him.

"Wait," she let out. He heard her uneven breathing on the other end of the line. "I love you."

"I love you too," he answered. That night Aria Montgomery wrote the word angel in her journal and books right next to it.

"Are we almost there?" asked Ezra. My knees are hurting from bending down. It was July 20, 2014, and Aria was covering his eyes with her hands as they walked into his New York apartment.

"Almost," she answered. "Quit whining. It's not my fault that I'm almost a foot shorter than you are." She let him over the threshold of the apartment. Taking one last look for herself, Aria nodded her head in satisfaction with what she saw.

_"Fitz owns this?" asked Hanna walking through the apartment. It was June 3, 2014 and Aria had invited her friends to New York to help her redecorate Ezra's apartment. She only had seven weeks until his birthday to get it done. _

_ "I tried telling you," said Spencer smugly. "Aria wouldn't let me."_

_ "Wouldn't let you tell us what?" asked Emily. She was looking at the paint samples Aria had put up on the walls. _

_ Aria sighed. "I didn't let her tell you that his last name is really Fitzgerald." _

_ "He what?" Hanna screeched running back into the living room. _

_Emily looked at Aria with shock. "You've known about this how long?" she asked, directing her question at Spencer. _

"_I found out after…" Spencer turned to Aria. "Do you want to tell them?"_

_Aria rolled her eyes. "Let's just say that his room is sacred ground."_

"_You slept with Fitz?" let out Hanna excitedly. _

"_Can we just focus on paint colors?" begged Aria. _

"_Wait," said Emily. "If he's a Fitzgerald, why was he in Rosewood teaching high school?"_

"_It's a long story," answered Spencer. "Trust me."_

"_You sure can keep a secret," said Hanna to Aria. _

_Aria threw her hands in the air. "It's not that big of a deal. Can we focus on the problem at hand?"She saw Hanna rubbing her hands together gleefully._

"_How much is in our budget. We better have enough money to hire painters because this outfit," she gestured to what she was wearing, "cost too much to ruin it with paint." _

_Emily pursued her lips. "Fine. I vote the teal color."_

"_Spencer?" asked Aria. _

"_Navy," she answered decidedly. "I like the navy."_

Taking her hands off of Ezra's eyes. She stepped back to shut the door as he surveyed the room. She watched as he looked to the navy walls the brown and black furniture and the beige rug in the living room.

"Do you like it?" she asked breathlessly.

He turned to her. "Very much." He paused a moment to take everything in. "It feels so much more homey." He walked around the room and touched the books that now lay on the coffee table and looked at the photographs on the walls. "Did you take these?"

"Yeah," she answered. "That one," she said, gesturing to one over the fireplace, "is from last year's Christmas. This one," she continued gesturing to the one that sat near a lamp, "is from that fair we went to in May." Her arm moved around the room expressively. "There's a story behind each one." She watched as he meandered into the dining room and then back again. "I got rid of the dining room table," she explained. "It felt too formal," she said, scrunching up her nose.

"I totally agree," he said, walking towards her. "This smaller one feels more like us."

"Us?" she asked looking up to him, his face only a few inches from hers.

"Us," he confirmed. Aria thought he was about to kiss her, but instead he grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to know what the bedroom looks like." He opened the door and smiled at what he saw. It was similar to his bedroom in Rosewood, but it had a distinctly Aria feeling to it. The walls were green and furniture was brown toned, but she had added black accent pieces and brightly colored pieces of artwork. "Come here," he said, pulling her towards him as he sat on the bed. She sat next to him and gladly leaned in as he began to shower her with kisses.

Vigorously kissing him back she undid the first few buttons of his shirt. When he didn't protest she undid the rest of the buttons and insistently pushed it off him. "You're not stopping me?" she murmured.

"Do you want to stop?" he whispered back.

"No." She impatiently tugged off her own shirt, and he helped her peel off the tank top she wore under it.

"You sure you're ready?" he asked taking off his belt.

"I'm sure." He answered her with even more kisses as they fell into the bed.

"Why now?" she would ask as they lay in each other's arms exhausted from the night's activities.

"We were ready now," he would respond.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Looking at the apartment," he would tell her, "I knew this is where we were supposed to be. Together."

_July 22, 2014 _

_ Why I have to keep this stupid journal over the summer for my psychology class seems pointless to me. I'm tired, frustrated, and I'd rather be with Toby than stuck doing this. I have no idea how Aria and Ezra do it every day. It would drive me crazy. One more month and it will be all over. I can hardly wait._

_ Speaking of Aria and Ezra they looked so happy yesterday. They came back to Rosewood on the afternoon train to celebrate Ezra's birthday. It's hard to believe he's twenty-nine. Sometimes he feels so much older than the rest of us. Sometimes he feels so much younger. Something happened between him and Aria. I told him once, a long time ago, that if he ever proposed to Aria he had to get permission from me, Hanna, and Emily as to when, where, and how. _

_ I already know Toby wants to get married. He's been talking about homes and families a lot, especially since Jason got him that job at Mr. DiLaurentis' firm. Sometimes it's hard to remember that Toby grew up in such a broken home. I definitely would not have wanted to live in the same house as Jenna, but Toby seems so happy. Maybe it's because Jenna is going to some blind college in Virginia right now. _

_ Hanna and Emily are happy too. Hanna and Caleb are still growing strong. Emily still hasn't found anyone special since she and Paige broke up. I think she's taking time off to reconnect with her parents. I've reached the two page requirement, so I'm ending this now._

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**A/N Didn't expect a journal entry from Spencer did you? **


	29. Fall 2014-Spring 2015

**A/N Thank you for the reviews!**

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"This is for you," said Ezra, handing Ella small velvet box. It was Saturday, August 27, 2014, a relatively warm day in Rosewood. He was sitting next to her on the Montgomerys' porch swing looking anxious as she took the box.

"What's it for?" she asked tentatively, giving him a warm smile.

Ezra rubbed the back of his neck before responding, "I was looking for Aria's birthday present and I found them. I thought you might like them."

"Where were you searching" Ella retorted, "the family vault?"

Ezra looked away sheepishly, "Maybe."

She shook her head, "You don't need to give me lavish presents."

"I know," he responded with a smile, "but I thought of you when I saw them. If my mom were around I would be spoiling her. Why should you be any different?"

Ella harrumphed in response and turned her attention to the box in her hand. "Oh," she exclaimed softly. "They're beautiful."

"They're rubies," he told her. "They belonged to my grandmother."

Ella fingered the exquisite earrings and marveled at the fact that one gem was the size of her fingernail.

"I can't accept this," she protested.

"Yes, you can," responded Ezra with a shrug. "They're yours now."

Resting her hands in her lap, Ella looked at him carefully. "It doesn't mean anything to you, does it?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"Everything your father left you. You could care less about it."

"Sometimes I think he would have been happier if he hadn't left me such a legacy," admitted Ezra. "I think I would have been happy teaching at Rosewood High for the rest of my life and living next door, raising my family."

"Who says you can't do that?" asked Ella.

"What you mean?" He was intrigued.

"I mean, you're still that person. Aria would love living in that house next door, and here you're surrounded by friends and family that love you. Nothing has to change."

"But everything has," he said. "Ever since my father died and then you guys came back and I fell in love with Aria and then she found out my last name…" his voice faded in to silence. He swallowed. "Is that even a possibility anymore?"

"Everything is a possibility," said Ella. "It's time to forget about the past and focus on the future."  
Ezra was a quiet for a moment before responding with a smile. "Does that mean you'll keep the earrings?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "If it makes you happy," she sighed. She chuckled softly to herself and leaned against the seat.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she dismissed, but she looked up to meet his eyes. "You do know that no matter what happens you'll always be family?"

He smiled back at her, "I do now."

September 15, 2014 Aria received a necklace that matched the earrings and bracelet she had gotten for her previous birthdays. A thick gold band encrusted with diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, she knew she could not possibly wear it in public. She sat in his apartment's living room and stared at it.

"Why?" she asked him. "You know how it makes me feel."

"There's a reason," he responded with a wry smile. "You just have to trust me."

"I do," she protested.

"Patience," he replied. She threw a throw pillow at him, hitting him in the face. "What was that for?"

"Because I felt like it." She held a straight face for a moment before bursting into giggles. His laughter joined hers and while the rest of the world might not have understood their amusement, it didn't matter. They understood, and they were deliriously oblivious to the rest of the world.

November 16 Aria sat in Spencer's dorm room. She was painting her nails while Spencer sat at her desk and worked on her homework.

"Do you ever think life is going by too fast?" asked Aria, looking up from her toes.

"What do you mean?" Spencer muttered distractedly.

Aria sighed. "I don't know. I feel like the world is moving in slow motion while I'm moving at a million miles an hour. What is it like when you're with Toby?"

Spencer looked up from her homework and thought about the question seriously for a moment. "When I'm with Toby," she started, "the rest of the world doesn't matter. It's just me and him. It doesn't matter if we're moving too fast or too slow because we're doing what's right for us."

Aria looked at her friend thoughtfully. "You really love him don't you?" Spencer smiled bashfully and turned back to her homework. "You're blushing," Aria exclaimed.

"No I'm not," mumbled Spencer. When Aria stopped her giggled, Spencer looked to where she was sitting on the bed. "What about you?" Spencer asked. "What's it like when you're with Ezra?"

"It's like I'm this little bubble when I'm with him and the outside world can't hurt us, but when I'm not with him, I worry about outside forces tearing us apart."

"Like what?"

Aria sighed, "He is nine years older than I am. That will never change. He's a Fitzgerald. There's nothing he can do about that either. And he was my teacher. No matter how hard we try, we can't rewrite the past."

"Don't let the past stop you," answered Spencer. "Remember Toby? We used to be afraid of him."

"What are you saying? That I should ignore the rest of the world?"

"Don't ignore it. Just make it work to your advantage."

"How?" asked Aria.

Spencer half-smiled. "I can't give you all the answers. That would be too easy."

December 8 Aria had finished her last final exam of the semester and was on her way to Ezra's apartment. He had come to the city to pick her up and take her home. She was riding on the subway when the couple sitting across from her caught her attention. They looked so happy, and Aria noticed a ring sparkled on her finger. She was also wearing white.

"Congratulations," Aria said, startling them out of their non-verbal conversation.

"How did you know?" asked the woman curiously.

Aria shrugged. "You just look so happy and in love."

"We are," answered the man. "We eloped this afternoon."

"How did you meet?" asked Aria.

The woman giggled. "We grew up in the same neighborhood."

Just then, the train screeched to a halt at her stop and Aria gathered her things. "May you have many happy days ahead of you," she offered the couple before exiting.

"And you too," answered the man politely. Aria walked out on the platform as the doors closed behind her and watched the train as it sped away.

"I will have happy days ahead of me" she wrote in her journal that night "and Ezra will have many days ahead of him. I just know it now."

January 28, 2015, miles away from Aria in New York, Ezra sat in a bar with Hardy.

"You sure are serious about Aria," commented Hardy.

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Ezra, taking a swig of his beer.

Hardy shrugged. "I don't know. When you guys started whatever you were doing while she was in high school, I thought that it was for the short-term."

Ezra snorted. "Like you would know a long-term relationship if it looked you in the face, Hardy,"

"Hey," said Hardy, holding up his hands defensively, "I never said I was a love guru, but the odds were against you. I'm amazed her dad hasn't come after you with a shotgun."

"Byron and I have an understanding," Ezra answered. "And Ella helps keep him in check."

"That's good," said Hardy, nodding his head. "Keeping things good with the mother-in-law."

"She's like my mom," replied Ezra. "More than my mom, really. She was there when my mom couldn't be."

"Angels," answered Hardy.

"What?"

"Angels watching over us, isn't that what your grandma used to say?"

"How do you know that?"

Hardy shrugged, "Just because I pretend not to listen doesn't mean I don't."

"What about you?" asked Ezra, changing the subject. "For all your commentary on one-night stands you talk about relationships a lot."

"That's what you think," replied Hardy. He looked across the room to where a waitress was taking an order. "She and I have a date later tonight."

"When did you meet her?" asked Ezra.

"Five minutes from now," responded Hardy, downing his beer and walking towards her. Ezra shook his head in response. "Some things never change" he wrote in his journal later that night.

_May 18, 2015 _

_School's been out for a week, and I've been at home since then. Ezra's been next door. I finally visited the tree house yesterday. It's been a year since I've been up there. I have a lot of good memories of that tree house. It's where I fell in love with books…and with Ezra. I started reading _I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings _by Maya Angelou. It's amazing how much we change from our days as children and how little we change at all. _

_ I think that same girl is inside of me that knocked on Ezra's door. But I also think there's a woman that is part of me that isn't shy, isn't timid, and isn't afraid of what she wants. I hope someday Ezra writes our story. If Angelou isn't ashamed of her past, then why should I be ashamed of mine? Then again, maybe it isn't his story to tell, but my own I should share with the world. Why can't I write a book if that's what I want to do? _

_ I look at my family and it's so hard to believe how much we've grown and changed. I wish I could have told my fifteen-year-old self that everything was going to be okay, that everything was going to turn out right. I wish I could have told Mike. I think he, more than I ever realized, was affected by what was happening in our lives. It's hard to believe that he finished his first year at Hollis. I thought he would go away to school, but he said he wanted to stay here, at home. I guess he's changed too or grown-up, rather. _

_ Two more years, and I'm done with college. What happens after that? Life doesn't end after marriage; it begins, a new adventure begins. Ezra's been talking a lot about Rosewood, and I think he wants to live here, raise a family here. Are things moving too fast? Sometimes I think they are, and sometimes I don't think they're moving fast enough. _


	30. July 21, 2015

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I don't have a twitter account, so I didn't know it was being talked about on Twitter. That's exciting! Remember reviews=updates.**

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April_ 29, 1993_

_Dear Ezra, _

_ It's hard to believe that thirty years have passed since you're birth. I bet you're like your father, six feet tall and a charmer. I wonder what you'll be doing today, who you'll be talking to and how you'll be celebrating. If your Grandma is still around, I'm sure she'll be making you a cake in that little kitchen. I have such good memories of that house in Pennsylvania. Dad writing in his journal, Mom quilting in the chair next to him. I always hoped that would be your Dad and me, sitting next to each other and growing old. I guess that wasn't meant to be. _

_ I hope, though, that you have found someone to grow old with, that there is someone sitting in the chair next to you. I wish I could have met her. I'm sure she is an extraordinary woman. She would have to be, to have fallen in love with you. I may not know her, but I know you, and you do not deserve to have your heart trampled upon. So if you chose correctly, which I hope you did, then know that you have my wholehearted blessing. _

_ However, if you're not married yet or if you haven't found that person, then I advise you to choose wisely and choose well. Don't worry about immaterial things like age or money or even what happened in the past. It's what happens now that's important. When you find her, don't let her go, not for all the rubies in Myanmar. _

_ You know by now how your dad and I met. It's not a pretty story, a romantic one maybe, but not one that was easy. But know this: If I had to do it all over again, I would have chosen the same. I will love your father until the day I die and all the days I'll wait for him in heaven. Because I will be waiting, right by those pearly gates as your Grandpa says. _

_ You're seven years old right now as I write this and too young to understand what is happening to me, unable to comprehend that a faceless disease could claim me. But today, as you read this, you'll be thirty, and I still don't know how to explain this to you. All I can tell you is that this disease came and no one was at fault. Don't blame your Dad. He's more sensitive than you realize, and much more in love than you'll ever know. No one can control fate—not even the parents you once thought invincible. _

_ This is the last letter I'll ever write to you, the last letter you'll read unless you haven't read the one meant for your wedding day yet. I would have been fifty-four this year. That seems so old to me, too far away to be feasible, yet I wish I could have turned fifty-four, fifty-six, fifty-seven for your sake and for your Dad's. Watch over him, Ezra and love him. He's fragile, and I don't know how he'll handle life after I'm gone, if he'll even handle it all. _

_ I have no more advice to give you, no more words of wisdom to write. I can only tell you how much I love, and how much I hope that you are happy in the life you have chosen for yourself. Writing makes me tired, and I'm sure you've noticed by my writing that I've had to stop and start several times. I cannot say it enough: I love you, my son, more than you will ever know. Happy thirtieth birthday!_

_Love, _

_Mom _

_ July 21, 2015 _

_Dear Mom, _

_ I'm old enough, now, to understand why you couldn't be here, why you missed all those birthday parties for all those years. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but it makes it bearable. I know that you won't be reading this, unless you're looking up from heaven. I really hope you are. I did meet a wonderful woman, Mom. Her name is Aria; I think you would have loved her. _

_ I spent today with her family. The Montgomerys lived next door to your mom and dad. Ella would have been younger than you, but maybe you knew her as a girl. She grew up in Rosewood, too. Maybe you didn't. She's a wonderful person. Every year since I turned twenty-three she makes me chocolate chip pancakes for my birthday and elaborate dinner later in the day. She's Aria's mom, and they both have the same heart. _

_ The Montgomerys are the only I have left—Ella, Aria, Byron, and Mike. Grandma and Grandpa passed eight years ago. Dad died six years ago, after Uncle Wesley left him the family fortune. That's something I never saw coming. Dad never bothered to tell me. He had a broken heart after you died, a heart that was never really repaired. ' _

_ I'm not married yet. But the time is coming soon. I want Aria to graduate from college. I forgot to mention she's nine years younger than I am. Sometimes we struggle over the difference. And sometimes it doesn't matter. The older we grow, the less it will matter, and I am more than prepared to sit next to her and grow old together. _

_ I published my first book. It's called _When Angels Fall _about Grandma and Grandpa, Dad, you, Aria. It's about the sadness of life in the midst of its inexplicable joys. I've grown so much in the last eight years, and I've learned a lot. Who knew I would actually enjoy teaching? Maybe you saw it coming. _

_ I can't write enough how much I love you even from the grave, from the intermittent distance that death brings. I still remember how you looked happy and healthy with a big smile covering your face. That's how I remember you. _

_Love, _

_ Ezra _


	31. August-October 2015

**Sorry it took so long to update. It's the end of the semester and things are kind of hectic. Honestly, the only reason I updated now is because of the people asking for it. It's a good thing to keep in mind. The more reviews I get, the more pressured I feel to update. I hope this chapter was worth waiting for. Warning: slight fluff at the end. **

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August 18, 2015 Aria and Ezra were locked in an embrace on his sofa when he suddenly pulled away from her and held her close. "I don't want you to go," he whispered in her ear.

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I don't want to go back either," she admitted.

Ezra glanced at the closed curtains in the window before turning his attention back to his girlfriend. "I can't believe you have to go back to New York tomorrow."

"Two more years," she stated firmly, nodding her head as she did so.

"What do you want to do after that?" he asked.

Aria looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean? I thought we were going to get married?"

"Is that what you really want to do right after college?" he asked gently.

"What do you want?" she returned.

"Whatever you want," Ezra responded. He began to trace circles around her arm with his thumb. He leaned in to continue their make-out session, but she drew back and moved away from him.

"That's not a real answer."

Ezra sighed and rubbed his eyes before eyeing the twelve inches Aria had put between them. "I want to write another book. I want to make sure I do this right. Us, I mean. I want to have your father's blessing. I'd like to teach again, and I really do dream of having children playing in the tree house. But it means nothing without you," he finished.

Aria thought carefully for a moment before replying, "You're thirty years old. I expect you to want those things. But I'm almost twenty-one. I'm not sure what I want besides you."

He regarded her carefully before answering. "Some people spend their entire lives figuring out what they want."

Closing the distance between them, she took his hand in hers. "I was hoping we could figure that out together," Aria said.

"Does that include marriage after graduation?" asked Ezra.

"That means we'll figure it out when the times comes," she said, leaning against his chest once more. He kissed the top of her head. "Tell me about your book."

And he did. He told her about his mom and the letters she left him and all the letters he wished he could have given her. It was a beginning.

August 19, Aria woke to soft sunlight streaming through the bedroom window. Instantly, she remembered what today was—the day she went back to Columbia. Quietly groaning she turned to her side and looked at the man beside her. She would miss him dearly. She kissed him on the forehead before crawling out of the bed and pulling on an oversized t-shirt she found in one of his drawers.

"Good morning," she whispered into his ear. He blinked his eyes open slowly and began to sit up. "Morning," Ezra mumbled. "I'll be more charming once I'm awake." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before continuing, "I think."

Aria giggled and gave him a full kiss on the lips. It was long a long kiss that expressed her dismay at leaving him. "Let's go somewhere," she said, snuggling against him.

"Anywhere," he agreed, putting his arms around her.

"Could we run away to Paris?" she asked.

"No problem," he responded. "I'll pack my bags right now." They laughed together before Aria sobered at the reality of their situation.

"You'll come and visit me in New York often, right?"

"I'll be there for your birthday," he promised.

"Good," she said. Glancing at the clock, she reluctantly got out of bed and began to look for her real clothes. "I have to go before my parents figured out I spent the night here."

"Surely they must realize," he stammered.

"Better not to rub in their faces just yet," explained Aria.

Ezra sighed. "I suppose you're right." Aria tossed him some clothes and he got dressed. They walked to the front door together. Ezra leaned in and gave Aria one last passionate kiss before she went back to her own house. _Not her house for much longer_, he thought quietly to himself as he closed the door.

Aria crept in the front door of her house, holding her shoes in her hands, careful to be as quiet as possible. She shut the door with a silent click before stealthily walking towards the stairs. Suddenly a voice startled her, "Did you have a nice night?"

Aria turned and found her mother sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. "You scared me half to death."

"You didn't come home last night," stated Ella without preamble.

"No, I didn't," Aria admitted honestly.

Ella looked her daughter once over before turning back her newspaper, "You better change your clothes before your father finds out where you've been."

Without answering, Aria dashed up the stairs. _Soon, _she thought as she opened the door to her room, _he won't be able to complain about who I spent the night with. _

September 10, 2015, Ezra and Byron sat together in Byron's study. "Well?" asked Ezra.

Byron, who had gotten up from his seat to walk towards the window, looked back at where the younger man was sitting. "It's a hard thing for a man to agree to."

"I understand that," responded Ezra. "But I hope my age or profession has nothing to do with this." There was an unspoken question in his words, and Byron heard it.

"Once, a long time ago, it would have mattered. But now," Byron shook his head and headed back towards his seat, "it's just a matter of coming to terms with her age. I still remember the day we brought her home from the hospital."

"It would mean a lot if you agreed to this," said Ezra.

"I don't disagree with it," answered Byron.

"Is that a yes?"

Byron was silent for a moment, drawing out the younger man's suspense. Throwing his hands up in the air, he exclaimed, "Somehow, I get the feeling Elliot had this all planned out from the first. It's a yes."

Five days later, on September 15, 2015, Aria's twenty-first birthday, Aria and Ezra had celebrated by going out to dinner. He insisted on taking her to a nice restaurant, and although initially uncomfortable with the idea, Aria agreed. She had enjoyed her evening, relishing the opportunity to dress up and drink champagne. Afterwards, they had walked down to Times Square, enjoying the lights and the energy of the people around them.

Later, like they always did, they ended up at his apartment. She kissed him on his cheek and sat on the armchair to take off her strappy and very-high heels. Suddenly, as she was bending over, she heard music playing. Snapping her head up, she looked at Ezra who had put on an old Sinatra song. "Dance with me," he beckoned. Obligingly, she got up to meet him and then danced close together, alone in the apartment, barefoot and happy.

"Thank you for a wonderful birthday," she whispered in his ear.

"Who says it's over yet?" he answered.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "It's almost midnight."

"You still haven't gotten your birthday present."

She rolled her eyes. "Please tell me it's not a ridiculously expensive piece of jewelry…" her voice trailed off into nothingness because suddenly, Ezra wasn't holding anymore and she wasn't swaying in his arms. He was down on one knee and holding a bright red velvet box in his hands.

Opening the box, Ezra asked in a solemn voice, "Will you marry me, Aria Montgomery?"

Gasping at the sight of a rather large emerald surrounded by diamonds and other jewels on a gold band, Aria exclaimed, "Of course." Laughing and crying at the same time, they kissed each other passionately, the Sinatra music forgotten in the background. What happened later, neither of them could exactly say. They were too blissful and too wrapped up in the moment to remember.

"So he asked you." It was September 16, 2015, and Spencer Hastings was leaning against Aria Montgomery's dorm room doorframe.

Aria turned around to meet her friend's gaze. "You knew?" Her clothes forgotten in the closet, Aria sat on the edge of her bed. "It's hard to believe I'm engaged," she said in awe. Spencer came in to sit beside her.

"I know," agreed Spencer. "He was so nervous about it too."

"You knew?" repeated Aria. She looked at her friend closely. "How?"

"Some of us can keep a secret, Ar," responded Spencer. "And how do you think I knew? He asked us for permission."

"Define us," said Aria suspiciously.

"He got your Dad's permission and your Mom's blessing. Then, he got Mike's say-so. Then he asked me, Emily, and Hanna, of course."

Aria shook her head. "I can't believe it."

"Believe it," said Spencer. "You're going to be an old married woman before you know it."

Grabbing her pillow, Aria smacked Spencer across the face. "Hey," exclaimed Spencer. "What was that for?"

_October 15, 2013_

_ It's still hard to believe I'm engaged. I look at the ring on my finger everyday and feels so new…and conspicuous. Ian was asking me about my fiancé the other day. Can you imagine what he's going to do when he finds out it's one of his favorite authors? I can't. _

_ Mom, Dad, and Mike took the news well. I think Dad took it too well. I'm curious to see what's going to happen over Thanksgiving when I see their real reactions. Mom is going to love this ring. Of course, I really don't care about the ring when Ezra's the one I'm getting. _

_ The sneak! The birthday jewelry he was giving me the last three years. It was done deliberately. The necklace, bracelet, and earrings. They all match this ring. Ezra calls it my wedding jewelry. He says that it belonged to his grandmother. His Fitzgerald grandmother. I really don't have much to say about the woman, considering I never met her. I think I'm okay with the jewelry. I just keep telling him to stop giving me things, but he doesn't listen. I already know how much he loves me. I can feel it every time we kiss. _


	32. November 23, 2023

**I am so sorry this took so long. I had computer problems, not to mention final exams and a 1500 mile drive back to Texas. I was going to continue this story, but instead of dragging it on, I'm ending it here. It just feels right to me. I still have an epilogue to post. For those of you have been following this story, thanks for everything.**

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November 23, 2023, Aria Fitz sat in the master bedroom of 2115 Mockingbird Lane in Rosewood, Pennsylvania and put on her shoes. They were bright red leather and they matched nicely with her black and red dress. Getting up from the edge of the bed she walked over to her vanity where she kept her jewelry box. Rifling through its contents, she smiled when she saw what she was looking for. She slipped it on before putting on her wedding ring and diamond studs in her ears. She nodded in her head in satisfaction before slipping on a ruby necklace that matched her purple shoes. She surveyed herself in the mirror before touching the stone at her neck, her mind immediately going back to the very moment she got it.

_ It was August 29, 2017. Aria had just graduated from college the May before, and she was taking the summer and the subsequent fall to explore her options and decide what she wanted to do. That Christmas, she and Ezra were getting married, and she had all but moved into his house already. _

_ She and Ezra had spent a lazy Saturday morning in bed. It was a rare treat since he now spent his days teaching at Hollis. Byron had gotten him a job in the English department and Ezra loved it. Secretly, Aria was relieved he wasn't going back to Rosewood High. That would have been awkward for the both of them. They both heard a knock on the door. They tried to ignore it, but it was persistent and only grew louder. _

_ Sighing, Ezra had gotten up from the bed; throwing on the shorts and t-shirt he had had one the night before. Aria had watched him with barely concealed admiration and pouted as he left the room. She had waited for him on the bed, expecting it to be an errant mailman with a delivery or maybe Mike wondering where she was. But the voices had grown in volume until they reached Aria's ears. She could have sworn she heard the name "Jackie," and she got out of bed to investigate. _

_ Aria went downstairs clad in one of Ezra's t-shirts, too lazy to bother putting on her own clothes just to have them taken off again. She went down the stairs, hidden by the dimness of the room and was angry at the sight she saw. Jackie had come to drop off some papers for Ezra. It was a strange occurrence, though, considering they didn't work in the same department. He accepted the packet he gave her, but she kept trying to inch her way into the house, touching him at every opportunity. _

_ She came up behind Ezra, touching his back so that he was aware of her presence. Aria smiled brightly at the woman, an action akin to bearing her teeth. "Who's this?" asked Jackie. _

_ Aware that Jackie couldn't see her in the shadows of the house, Aria stepped out into the sunlight slightly as Ezra answer "This is my fiancée."_

_ "How nice of you to disturb our Saturday," began Aria brightly. "Now, if you excuse us, we have better things to do." Taking his cue from Aria, Ezra shut the door, leaving Jackie alone on his front porch. _

_ They had gotten into an argument about it that night. It was one of their biggest, lasting for several days. Aria was upset that Ezra hadn't told her that Jackie still worked at Hollis, and Ezra was upset Aria was upset that she saw Jackie as a threat. _

_ Several days later, Ezra gave in and apologized. He had given her the ruby necklace as a peace offering, and as a promise never to let other people come between them._

Aria gave herself one last look in the mirror before turning around and making the bed. Quickly and efficiently she put the sheets and comforter in place before reaching for the pillows on the floor. Distracted by the sound of laughter down the hall, she knocked over a book on the nightstand, and bent down to retrieve it. It was a first edition of _To Kill a Mockingbird_, signed by Harper Lee. It had been her wedding present.

_December 26, 2017 Ezra had given the book to Aria. He apologetically shrugged as he handed it to her. "I know I'm not supposed to give you any first edition books, but now that we're married, I thought you'd allow it." _

_ Aria looked at him in the seat next to her. Ezra could tell she was debating what to say. Her options were limited by the fact that they were sitting in an airplane thirty thousand miles in the air. What she said, he hadn't expected. "I have your wedding present too." She reached into the seat in front of her and pulled out her leopard-print carry-on bag. She reached inside and pulled out a little black book. She handed to him shyly and said softly, "I hope you like it."_

_ They exchanged gifts amidst the on looking flight attendants and the snoring passenger behind them. Aria had to admit that the leather bound book was beautiful and in mint condition, but Ezra's intake of breath as he realized what his present was, warmed her to the very tips of her toes. "It's everything I could find." As Ezra flipped through the pages of the photo album, she explained, "There's a picture of the Springers and one of you and your mom. One of just your parents. There's you and Mike on the day you guys went to the Phillies game. There's another one of the three of us on Fourth of July seven years ago. There's one of me and the girls. I took one of Mom and Dad at Christmas last year, and this one is a copy of the one us you have above the bed at home." _

_ Ezra stared at the last picture for a moment before turning to her. "Thank you," he whispered softly. _

_ "This is beautiful," she responded, holding up the book in her hands. "It reminds me of that day when I first knocked on your door."_

_ "It's supposed to," said Ezra. "To remind of us of the people we were then, and the ones we are now."_

_ Aria rested her head on Ezra's shoulder. "I love you."_

_ Ezra leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I love you, too." They sat that way for hours, in the quiet of the airplane, flying towards their honeymoon destination. _

Aria finished putting the pillows in place, and surveyed the room carefully to make sure nothing was out of place. Satisfied, she turned towards her closet that was connected to her bathroom, her gargantuan closet that Ezra had built just for her. She rifled through her clothes, looking for the red wrap that would not only compliment her dress, but would also warm her against the cold November air. Her eyes caught a shimmer of gold, and Aria smiled as she saw the glittering material. She had worn it mere months ago.

_It was February 28, 2023. It was warm for that time of year, and Aria had decided to wear a gold dress that floated to the floor for Emily's big day. It was a beautiful wedding, and Aria had nearly cried at the sight of Emily and Maya dancing together. Ezra, who had gone to the men's room for a moment, had left her at the table, and although Aria knew that Spencer and Hanna were nearby, she stayed where she was, getting up only when Mike asked for a dance. _

_ As they swayed in the music, Aria gushed, "Isn't this a beautiful wedding?" _

_ Mike looked up from his feet and nodded nonchalantly, "I guess so."_

_ "I think I'm just overexcited. It's hard to believe that Emily and Maya are back together again."_

_ "Why now after all this time?" asked Mike, creasing his forehead. _

_ "Emily told me that they were ready for each other now, that the timing was right." _

_ "It's hard to believe that timing has that much to do with love," answered Mike as he accidentally stepped on Aria's foot. "Sorry," he apologized._

_ "It's okay," Aria reassured him. She was silent for a moment before continuing, "Sometimes timing has to do with everything. Look at me and Ezra. And Caleb and Hanna. And Toby and Spencer. It's hard to believe that all of us are married."_

_ "What are they up to these days?" Mike was asking, but Aria could tell that he was really being nice to her, realizing that she wanted to talk about her friends. _

_ "Emily is swim coach at Rosewood High, and Maya is a psychologist with her own counseling business. Hanna has her own boutique here in Rosewood, and Caleb works from home for some tech company. Spencer passed the bar last year and is working with her father at his firm. I think they've finally reached passed all the hurt and miscommunication of all these years. Toby and Jason run the DiLaurentis architecture firm together, now. Jason designs buildings and Toby builds them." She would have continued chattering, but Mike cut in. _

_ "And you? What will you do now? Will you be a stay-at-home mom or continue teaching at Rosewood High?"_

_ Aria was shocked, "What do you mean? I" Mike cut her off again. _

_ He rolled his eyes. "I know you're pregnant. You're overly emotional. And you didn't eat your dinner. And," he continued pointedly, "you aren't drinking champagne at your best friend's wedding."_

_ "Fine," admitted Aria. "I'm three weeks pregnant. But I haven't told Ezra yet. I was waiting for a special occasion." _

_ Mike smiled. "I'm happy for you, and I know Mom and Dad will be too." _

_ "You think?"_

_ "Aria, everything is going to be great." She had told Ezra that night. He was so excited for once he was speechless. _

As Aria put on her wrap, she surveyed the other items of her clothing in closet, cataloguing the events they commemorated. There was the blouse she wore when Mike told her he was engaged. There was the jacket she bought the day Spencer told her she was pregnant. Hanna had made the blue neon pants for her, and the white blouse that went with it, she bought at her boutique. She wore the emerald green dress at her parents' thirtieth anniversary party. The black stiletto heels she had on the day she and Spencer had spotted Wren and Simone on the street, holding hands and kissing and realized they were a couple. Then there was the sweatshirt she was wearing when she found out Lucy had won _American Idol_ just like she said she would and found out she had also married Ian.

Sighing, Aria surveyed her closet before turning around and heading back towards the master bedroom. Her heels clicked against the hardwood floor, and she grabbed her purse from the bathroom counter. She smiled at the sight that greeted her.

"Are you ready?" Ezra asked. He had on a matching red shirt and black pants, and was holding a bundle that was wearing a bright red velvet dress with white lace.

She kissed him on the cheek, and reached for the baby. "Now I am," she answered with a smile. She looked at her month-old daughter. "Are you ready to meet everyone?" asked Aria. "Your first Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Nervous?" asked Ezra, as they walked down the stairs.

"Nostalgic," said Aria quietly. "She right you know. Mrs. Springer. There are angels watching over us. Our whole lives."

Ezra grabbed the diaper bag that was by the front door, and kissed his wife's forehead. He carefully wrapped his sleeping daughter up in several blankets before placing her back in her mother's arms.

He nodded. "I'm glad we named her Angela. To represent that. "

"Angela Diana Fitz," recited Aria. "It has a nice ring to it." She looked at the tiny bundle in her arms. "I hope you realize, my little angel," cooed Aria, "just how special you are."

Ezra opened the door to let his Aria and Angela out, shutting the door behind him. They walked next door to where Ella had cooked a Thanksgiving feast and a multitude of friends and family had gathered to greet the newest member of their circle into the world.


End file.
